The National Library Board (NLB) is launching a subscription service that delivers to customers eight curated English children’s books a month.
Up to 200 children from low-income families will get the subscription free, as part of a partnership with The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund (STSPMF).
The pilot service, called The Little Book Box, will cost $10.70 a month and run for nine months from next month to July next year (2021).
Registration opened on 2 October, with a cap of 1,000 slots.
The book boxes will include fiction and non-fiction reads and are catered for two age groups – of four to six and seven to nine.
These will not fall within the subscribers’ usual library loan quota.
The loan duration is 21 days, excluding delivery time. Subscribers can return the books at any of the 25 public libraries.
The service is available on a first come, first served basis, with a minimum subscription period of three months, following which the subscription will be automatically renewed for another three months unless it is terminated.
Depending on the response to the pilot, NLB will consider extending and expanding the service beyond next July.
The 200 students for the STSPMF free subscription will be selected by social service agencies.
Read more here.
Source: The Straits Times, 2 October 2020