Arifin: State Library exceeded 1 million users
Published on: Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Ricardo Unto
Arifin said 2,500 reading promotion programmes were targeted in 2023 and the Sabah State Library successfully implemented 9,612 programmes, which was 384 per cent of the target.
Kota Kinabalu: The library continues to play a significant role in fostering reading interest among the people in Sabah, said State Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Datuk Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif.
He said that in 2023, the target of the Sabah State Library for the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) initiative was to reach 1 million library users statewide.
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“The Sabah State Library has exceeded its target, with 3,281,502 library usages or 328 per cent,” he said in response to a question from Nominated Assemblywoman Datuk Amisah Yassin at the State Legislative Assembly sitting on Wednesday.
Arifin said 2,500 reading promotion programmes were targeted in 2023 and the Sabah State Library successfully implemented 9,612 programmes, which was 384 per cent of the target.
Among the programmes organised was the State-level Jom Baca Bersama 10 Minit programme involving Kent Campus and Gaya Campus Teacher Education Institutes, kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools, and vocational colleges.
Additionally, he said, the Library Week 2023 was held at the end of June, and activities during school holidays were also conducted at all library branches.
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The Sabah State Library also targeted 100,000 digital facility users in 2023 for all library branches and achieved a target of 245,167 users.
“This year, the target for the total library usage has been increased to 2 million.
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“The achievement as of March this year were 724,150 users (36 per cent).
“The target for the Reading Promotion are 2,500 programmes and as of March, a total of 1,841 programmes (74 per cent) have been implemented.
“The target for digital facility usage is 100,000, with a total of 48,388 users (48 per cent) across all Sabah State Library branches as of March.
Among the programmes planned for this year are the State-level Children’s Literature Festival (April 20-22), the Jom Baca Bersama 10 Minit Programme (April 23), Library Week (August 12-24), and the Borneo Book Festival co-organised with UMS Publishers (Oct 2-6).
The Sabah State Library has one headquarters, 25 branches with four additional services, 62 village libraries, nine mobile services and four Des@net buses.
The library book collection for the entire State comprises 2,898,597 copies, including reference and for-borrowing books and magazines.
The Sabah State Library also provided digital resource services accessible through the library’s website, such as the Clare System (Collection of Library Archives Repository & EAccess).
“Additionally, Overdrive/Libby includes fiction e-books, non-fiction, magazines, audio books, read-along e-books in various subjects, and collections suitable for all age groups, with the majority of collections in English.
“On the other hand, Sabah E-Lib has e-books, fiction, and non-fiction, with the majority of the collection in Malay,” he said.
The Sabah State Library is also a member of the u-Pustaka consortium, a database managed by the National Library of Malaysia.
“The Sabah State Library has subscribed to Daily Express online for internal use as well as in 14 library branches and additional services.”
The Sabah State Library has also collaborated with Petronas, the State Education Department, and the NPO Corporation MAY Library Asaka Centre, among others.
“The impact of these collaborations has further increased public interest in coming to the library, especially on weekends and school holidays, and utilising the services provided by the library,” he said.
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