Seasons in the Library

People always say that there are no seasons in Singapore. Oh, but in the Library, we do have seasons.

Come July, we see swarms. So many bright shiny faces come rushing through the doors, asking their way here and there; how do you find this book and that? It's so crowded, we can hardly breathe, we can't check a thing in the catalogues, there's always one of them with his face and his fingers stuck in the drawer we want.

As suddenly as it begins, the rush of orientation season fades. The Library is crowded, but not madly so, the RBR is rather crowded but not impossibly so. Ah, they've settled down and the long hard, working season is on. This will march on solidly till X'mas and the New Year, where there is the exam-fever season. This is when the rush for red-spot books is so great, it seems never to end, and the students line up for overnight books as though we're giving away $100 ang pows. When we go shelf reading or searching for books, we must pick our way carefully among the bodies, so elegantly decorating the floor between the shelves. Look into the aquarium as you pass by -- they are packed in like sardines in a tin can! And those of us priviledged enough to have done Sunday morning duty in this season will tell you this -- the ceremony of opening the Library doors at 9.00 am is an experience indeed! Whoever opens the doors must move with the speed of lighting and the agility of an acrobat. For he must open the doors and jump, out of the way, fast! If he doesn't want to be buried in the swarm of students rushing in to grab their favourite seats.

But such exciting events pass quickly, exams are soon over and lo, vacation, the season of peace and quiet begins. The crowds dwindle, there are few loans at the counter, fewer still books to shelve and RBR is a sleepy place with hardly any customers. Then the ORIENTATION season approaches once more and the whole cycle begins again.

Yes, we may not have spring, summer, autumn and winter, but in this Library, we surely do have seasons.

Originally written by Esther Khoo and adapted from LINUS 1976 January No.5

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LINUS July 1995, NUS Libraries