Libraries Worth the Trip

For one library, go to Bishan Library, where the reading nooks are coloured pods hung like a tree house. It's free, it's an easy cool hour on a wet or hot afternoon, and the architecture is the draw. The cost is a trip out to the estate. Most of the others below are in malls or in the National Library Building, so they combine with shopping or a museum, and none of them charges.

Design in the heartlands

Bishan Library is on the ground floor of the building at 5 Bishan Place, and its book drop and reservation lockers stay open round the clock, so you can return a book at any hour.

Bishan's pods set the tone, and two more libraries follow it with a theme of their own. Yishun Library on Level 4 of Northpoint City has pixel-themed furniture and virtual bookshelves, built around the idea of going digital. Sembawang Library on Level 5 of Sun Plaza has container-shaped spaces and reading decks that nod to Sembawang's nautical past. Both keep 11am to 9pm hours, and Yishun opens from 9am for anyone who wants an early start.

Woodlands has the big one. Woodlands Library at Woodlands Civic Centre is a big library beside Causeway Point, worth the stop if you're already up north, and it pairs well with a stroll along Woodlands Waterfront.

Punggol, for comics and a late desk

Punggol has two libraries with very different moods. Punggol Library is one of NLB's LAB25 libraries, on the ground floor of One Punggol, and its Level 3 study zone stays open until 10pm every day, public holidays included.

The Comics and Games Library at Punggol Coast is fully self-service, with more than 7,000 comics, graphic novels, game-themed books and board games, plus a board-game area with tables and seats, run with the local company Origame. Enter with a library card, an NLB eCard or a QR day pass requested online.

In and around the National Library

The National Library Building on Victoria Street holds three entries on this page, so allow an afternoon. National Library itself is free to enter, and the pods and the roof garden are the reason to come. Central Library is in the basement, and the Drama Centre in the same building is ticketed.

On Level 5, Central Arts Library lends performing arts and design books, with music and screening facilities, and suits anyone who plays an instrument or wants a quiet floor. Downstairs, the Children's Biodiversity Library is built around marine life with Singapore Oceanarium, and it has an Immersive Room and a Memories Corner made from 5,000 old library bricks. Programmes change, so check what's on before you bring children.

The library@orchard at Orchard Gateway is closed for renovations, and NLB gives no reopening date. NLB lists Central Library and Toa Payoh Library as the nearest alternatives, and Central is the one in town.

A pop-up for science fiction

The Sci-Fi Pop-up Library on the fourth floor of Parkway Parade is NLB's first fully self-service library with an exhibition built in. It has close to 4,000 English sci-fi books, graphic novels and comics, original cover paintings and a showcase of Singapore authors. It's a pop-up, so check NLB's page for how long it runs. Marine Parade MRT is the nearest station.

Hours and holidays

Bishan, Punggol, Central Arts, National Library and Woodlands open from 10am to 9pm, and they close on public holidays and from 5pm on the eves of Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year. The Sci-Fi Pop-up and the Comics and Games Library are the ones to know on a public holiday, because both open from 10am to 10pm every day.