The Old National Library Building was a demolished historical library building at Stamford Road in the Museum Planning Area of Singapore. Originally completed in 1960, the library building was a national icon for many Singaporeans. Despite a huge groundswell of public dissent, the library was closed on 31 March 2004, and was demolished in July that year to make way for the construction of the Fort Canning Tunnel to ease road traffic to the city. The controversy surrounding the building's demise has been credited for sparking greater awareness of local cultural roots and an unprecedented wave in favour of heritage conservation among Singaporeans.
History
The Old National Library traces its roots to Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore, who in 1823 started a small private collection of books housed in the Raffles Institution. This was known as Raffles Library, and access to the collection was limited to the British and privileged class. Dr. Robert Morrison, an eminent missionary and educator became the first librarian from 1823 to 1845. He was mainly responsible for establishing the plans with Raffles and soliciting book donations for the Library. When it was first built, it has a red-brick façade.
World War II
The Raffles Library was converted into a Regimental Aid Station by the British and Australian army during the Japanese invasion in February 1942. The Library building suffered damages on its northwestern wall and rooftop during the invasion. After the British surrender of Singapore on 15 February 1942, the Library was taken over by the Japanese and renamed the during the Japanese Occupation. On 29 April 1942, it reopened to the public on the occasion of the birthday of the Emperor of Japan, Hirohito. Shōnan Toshokan was headed by Marquis Yoshichika Tokugawa as its president, a relative of the Japanese Emperor.
On 18 February 1942, E.J.H. Corner, the assistant Director of Gardens in the Straits Settlement, with the support of Sir Shenton Thomas, met a group of Japanese scientists and nobles with the intention of protecting the invaluable collections of the Library and museum. He was later enlisted by Professor Hidezo Tanakadate to assist in re-establishing the library and museum. To increase its collection, abandoned books and journals were collected from all across the states of Malaya and deposited at the Library.
The Library was patronised mainly by the Japanese and captured European staff from the Department of Information, who created propaganda for the Japanese invasion of India and Australia. More than 13,000 volumes were also circulated to civil internees at the Maxwell Road Customs House and prisoners-of-war at Changi Prison. Among these volumes were prayer books, hymnals, music sheets and children's books.
Post-war
After the Japanese surrender in September 1945, Lieutenant-Colonel G. Archey of the British Military Administration took over Directorship of the Library and museum on 6 September. The Library only suffered minimal losses and damages during the three and a half years of Japanese Occupation, as the Japanese preserved the Library well due to its respected reputation in academia. Compared to other libraries in Malaya which lost nearly half of their collections, only some 500 reference books were looted according to a stocktake done after the war.
In the 1950s, public demand mounted for a free public library to meet the needs of all levels of society. Lee Kong Chian, a renowned Chinese community leader and philanthropist, offered S$350,000 in 1953 towards the founding of the first free public library in Singapore on condition that vernacular languages were promoted and encouraged in the public arena. The British government accepted the offer without hesitation and began demolishing the old St Andrew's Chapel and the British Council Hall sited at the foot of Fort Canning Hill along Stamford Road to make way for the new library. The chosen site was situated among many civic and educational institutions on or around Fort Canning Hill and the nearby Bras Basah area. Lee later laid the foundation stone that reads:
50 years later, on 15 September 2003, his son Dr. Lee Seng Gee repeated history when the Lee Foundation he chaired gave S$60 million to the National Library Board, the largest single corporate donation ever in Singapore. In July 2005, the new National Reference Library at Victoria Street was named Lee Kong Chian Library in his father's honour.
On 1 April 1958, after the Raffles National Library Ordinance came into effect, the Raffles Library was renamed Raffles National Library.