From captivating art collections and live performances to thrilling movie screenings, there’s so much excitement waiting for you to explore!
Venue: National Library Building
Opening Hours:
- Mon - Sun: 10:00 AM - 09:00 PM
- Closed at 5:00 PM on eves of Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year | Closed on Public Holidays
Admission: Free
Dive into the world of art, music, and creativity at the newly opened Central Arts Library (CAL). The library features a comprehensive arts collection, regular performances, and dedicated spaces to help you take your passion for music to the next level.
For the first time, you can borrow selected titles from the General Reference Collection of the National Library through a pilot initiative RefToGo.
Regular Arts Performances and Movie Screenings
Since August 2023, more than 90 arts programmes for CAL have been held within the National Library Building’s Plaza and lobby, drawing in about 7,000 participants. Look forward to regular arts activities such as film screenings, performing arts workshops, and Open Stage Originals, a platform for local artists to showcase their original musical works at the National Library Building.
Borrow Books, Music Scores and More
At the Central Arts Library (CAL), you’ll find a treasure trove of resources perfect for enriching your family’s love for the arts. CAL brings together favorites from the former library@esplanade and library@orchard, offering books, music scores, play scripts, and video recordings of films, operas, dance performances, and theatre productions. All these await you on Level 5 of the National Library Building.
The library will offer its resources in two main locations, namely within the National Library Building and as an unmanned pop-up library in the National Design Centre, in partnership with the University of the Arts Singapore (UAS).
If you’re interested in design, the University of the Arts Singapore Node at the National Design Centre is a must-visit. This space offers about 5,500 design-focused titles on topics like people, space, visuals, and products. Entry is easy—just scan your ID or request a QR code day pass, and you’re all set to browse and borrow books using the NLB Mobile app.
Need more time to dive into reference materials for research or personal study? The new RefToGo initiative allows you to borrow over 200,000 selected titles from the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library, including an extensive Arts collection on art history, techniques, and applied arts. These materials, previously for in-library use only, are now available for up to 21 days through the NLB Mobile app. It’s never been easier to bring the library experience home!
CAL’s Spaces for Aspiring Musicians and Film Buffs
Bring your family’s creative dreams to life at the Central Arts Library! The Piano Practice Room and Silent Studio Room at Level 5 of the National Library Building are now open for booking. Offering fully equipped spaces where aspiring musicians can jam, create, and even record their own demos.
Whether you’re playing a baby grand piano or strumming guitars, it’s the perfect place to let your talents shine.
Rental rates for the Piano Practice Room starts from $8.65 per hourly on weekdays and $12.22 per hourly on weekends. As for the Silent Studio Room, the hourly rental rates are $10.69 for weekdays and $14.77 for weekends. 
With rental rates of $8.65 hourly on weekdays and weekends, movie lovers in the family will also love CAL’s impressive collection of over 30,000 titles, featuring dance, theatre, operas, and motion pictures.
Borrow your favorites in DVD, Blu-ray, or 4K format, and enjoy them in a cozy screening room with a surround-sound home theatre system at Level 8 of the National Library Building. It’s an experience the whole family will enjoy!
Upcoming Programmes at Central Arts Library
Get ready to enjoy the following exciting upcoming programs at the Central Arts Library:
- Midweek Matinee: The Nutcracker by Vainonen after Petipa and Ivanov, music by Tchaikovsky on Wednesday, 18 December 2024, at 12 PM.
- NUS Piano Ensemble on Friday, 20 December 2024
- PEREKA Kita – Sesi 3 on Saturday, 21 December 2024, from 11.30 PM - 1.30 PM
Signature Series of Central Arts Library
Get Ready for the Exciting Signature Series at Central Arts Library! Check out the exciting lists you can look forward to:
Performing Arts
- The Big Picture: The Big Picture is a series of bi-weekly movie screenings curated by the librarians at the Central Arts Library. These screenings highlight interesting titles from the library’s film collection, aiming to cultivate a community of film lovers.
- Jazz Appreciation: The Jazz and Music Improvisation performance-lecture series is held monthly at the NL Building Lobby, with the goal of educating the public about jazz appreciation and the techniques of music improvisation.
- Insider Series: The Insider series consists of professional talks designed for those interested in pursuing a career in the performing arts industry. The talks feature key figures from the local music, dance, theatre, and film industries, who share their experiences and offer valuable advice to aspiring artists.
- Open Stage Originals: A quarterly open call opportunity and platform for local singer songwriters, musicians, filmmakers, playwrights and choreographers to showcase and promote their original works.
- The Performers’ Body: A series of workshops focusing on developing and nurturing the performer’s body, held at the Imagination Room on Level 5 of the NL Building.
- Young Musicians’ Festival: Young music students of private music teachers and schools take to the Open Stage at the NL Building Lobby, for recitals open to members of the public in this school holiday showcase of talents. This event aims to provide a performance platform for children to develop and hone their craft in front of a live audience.
- Close up! Film analysis: A monthly film appreciation workshop series that delves in to learn the various storytelling devices and concepts used by filmmakers to create a compelling and effective movie.
- Groovy Starters: Beginner-friendly dance sessions to learn how to groove to hip hop rhythm and beats.
Design and Applied Arts
- Pro Series: Pro Series is a curated suite of talks workshops and portfolio reviews where Singapore based artists and designers are invited to share their professional expertise in design and the applied arts with the public. These programmes cover a variety of design fields ranging from space, graphics, print and textiles.
- Your Design Space: A community event that aims to support non-professional and budding designers by featuring select design prototypes and/or products at the library
- Communities: Caravanserai: Learn how to connect with people from around the world and develop a deeper understanding of both distant and nearby regions. Explore destinations beyond the usual tourist spots. The community offers guidance on developing cultural agility through interactions with a diverse range of people globally. It also invites participants to share their own experiences of the places and people they’ve encountered during their travels.
RefToGo service at the National Library
With RefToGo, NLB members can now borrow selected titles from the General Reference Collection of the National Library. This is a first for the National Library, which holds Singapore’s largest public reference collection for research, education and decision-making at the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library. Members may use the NLB Mobile app to borrow the titles.
An extensive range of resources from the collections below are available for loan:
- Level 7: Business, Science, Technology & Social Sciences Collections
- Level 8: Arts & Humanities Collections
- Level 9: Chinese, Malay & Tamil Collections
RefToGo is aimed at enhancing patron experience by offering convenient access to general reference resources. It is a one-year pilot initiative in support of NLB’s LAB25 (Libraries and Archives Blueprint) journey of innovation and experimentation to reimagine libraries and archives.
For more information, please visit https://go.gov.sg/reftogo-about.
To see more information about the library, please visit the NLB website, and NLB’s Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube channels.
