1900's

The first library to be established was the Medical Library, which was housed in the students' reading room of the Straits and Federated Malay States Government Medical School set up in 1905. In 1911, the library and reading room was shifted to the Tan Teck Guan Building. In 1923, it moved to the College of Medicine Building 2 years after the school was renamed the King Edward VII College of Medicine.

Straits and Federated Malay States Government Medical School

1930's

In 1930, Mr P. J. Verghese was appointed as the first full-time medical librarian. The nine-foot wide gallery of the Oei Tiong Ham Hall housed one collection of books. Before a librarian was appointed, students would enter the particulars of the books they borrowed in a large record book. A clerk from the administrative office checked the lending and returning from time to time. There were other small collections of books in the charge of various departments, with the largest one in the English Department. In 1931, Mr Tan Oi Sai was put in charge of the Raffles College Library.

Oei Tiong Ham Hall gallery housed the Library

1940's

During the Japanese Occupation (1942-45), the College of Medicine Building was taken over by the Japanese Army and used as a serological institute. The Medical Library and its collection was left intact during the war years.

The Raffles College buildings were turned into the Kempetai Headquarters. Some of the books in the Library were distributed by the Japanese Army. However the bulk of the collection was recovered as it was removed in the early days of the Japanese Occupation to Fullerton Building, then Raffles Library before ending up in Wesleyan Church.

After the war, with some reorganization and cleaning up, the books were ready to be loaned out to the students at the Sepoy Lines campus in 1946. In 1947, No. 5 House in Cluny Park was used to accommodate the Library.

No.5 House

1950's

In June 1953, the Library finally had a building of its own. The new building was air-conditioned (for the very first time), equipped with steel furniture and shelving, with seating for over 200 readers. The first Librarian of the University, Mr E.H. Clark, was appointed two years after the foundation of the University of Malaya in 1951.

The Medical Library, which had its beginnings in 1905, came under the charge of the University Librarian. It operated as a special library serving the Medical Faculty at the Sepoy Lines Campus. The Chinese Library was set up in 1953 in support of the new Chinese Studies Department. In 1957, a law collection was started in the Main Library in support of the law course.

At the Bukit Timah Campus, with a rapidly growing student population and collection, it was necessary for the Library to expand into the South East wing of the Administration Building in 1958.

Main Library in 1953

1960's

In 1963, more space was added for the use of the Library. The space was utilised to set up the Law Library. The Main Library expanded into the Manasseh Meyer Block in April 1967 and made several renovations to the main building in order to provide more facilities and services to its readers.

Due to the physical transfer of the School of Accountancy from the Singapore Polytechnic to the University campus, approximately 2,250 volumes on Accountancy and related materials were transferred to the Library during the long vacation in 1969. The Library quickly ran out of space and as a short term measure Nissen huts were allocated to the Library, in 1973 and 1976, to store less frequently used materials so as to make space for new materials in the Main Library.

Main Library - 1960s

1970's

When the Faculty of Architecture was moved from the Singapore Polytechnic to the University's Lady Hill Campus, an Architecture Library had to be quickly set up in May 1970. The architecture and building collection from the Polytechnic Library was transferred to form the core collection of the Architecture Library. The Library operated from two rooms with an area of 850 sq ft at the Lady Hill Campus until the Faculty of Architecture and Building was shifted to the Kent Ridge Campus in May 1976.

Faculty of Architecture at Lady Hill Campus

Starting in 1970, the Main Library took over the responsibility for acquisitions for the Engineering collection maintained at the Singapore Polytechnic Library. However, as the Faculty of Engineering was still located at the Singapore Polytechnic, an Engineering Library was set up on the third floor of the Polytechnic building in November 1971 to serve the staff and students there.

When the Faculty was relocated to the Kent Ridge Campus, the Engineering Library was also moved to Block 5 of the Faculty of Engineering in March 1977 and reopened for service on 1 April 1977. This temporary measure was necessary as the Library Building was not yet ready.

Faculty of Engineering at
Singapore Polytechnic - 1970

1980's

On 8 May 1978, the new Kent Ridge Library, incorporating the former Architecture Library and Engineering Library as well as the Accountancy and Business Administration collections, opened for service. The Law Library was also housed in the Kent Ridge Library until its own premises were ready in March 1980.

The eighties were a time of more changes for the Library. The Nanyang University Library merged with the University of Singapore Library to become the National University of Singapore Library in 1980.

The Main Library and the Chinese Library was moved from Bukit Timah to the Kent Ridge Campus in April 1981. It was a major move involving 358,000 volumes in English, 143,000 volumes in Chinese, as well as the furniture and equipment of the two libraries. The move took eight weeks and the Central Library resumed service on 25 May 1981.

The Japanese Resources Department was set up in support of the new Department of Japanese Studies in 1981. The Library Automation Unit and Media Resources Department were set up in October 1982. The planning for computerisation in the Library was underway and was fully implementated by June 1985.

When the rest of the Medical Library at Sepoy Lines moved in May 1985, all the libraries operated from one location at the Kent Ridge Campus for the very first time. At the time, there were four libraries on campus, Central Library, Chinese Library, Law Library and Medical Library.

By 1986, the Science Library was ready and operational. The Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library, catering to the Faculty of Business Administration, was added to the NUS Library System in 1987.

Central Library with rooftop garden - 1981

Medical Library - 1983

1990's

The nineties saw further progress made by the Library in the area of computerisation. The Library installed a fully integrated library system and started working on converting its library catalogues into one computerised database, where previously it was on different formats. This task was completed in July 1990 and the computerised Library INtegrated Catalogue (LINC) was launched. In October 1990, LINC was accessible via the campus network, NUSNET. By June 1993, the Library's catalogue was accessible internationally via Internet.

Online library catalogue - 1991

2000's

The Law Library received a major donation from the late Mr. Koh Choon Joo which allowed the library to upgrade and expand on its existing facilities. The Central Library also underwent a major renovation to its interior to provide new facilties like discussion rooms. In August 2004, a new library portal was launched to provide integrated access to library resources with personalization of the page with quick access to frequently used resources.

C J Koh Law Library - 2002