This old Sabah State Library will be turned into a Children's Library by next year. - Photo by Aniq Azraei.
KOTA KINABALU: If everything goes well, children in Sabah will have a library specially designed just for them soon.
Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun said that the proposal was made to promote early education among the young people in Sabah.
“We have proposed to turn the run-down state library, located behind Kota Kinabalu City Hall into the Children’s Library. It will cater to the needs of young people,” she told reporters during her visit at Suria Sabah Library here yesterday.
She said construction is expected to begin next year, with the old building to be demolished to make room for a new one.
“The Children’s Library came up because we love our children. We want them to be intelligent people, we want to promote reading to them, and we want them to put education and knowledge first. It is always good to start them young,” she said.
On rumours that a portion was supposed to be extended to the Sabah Courts as part of its expansion project, Azizah said: “That is no longer an issue. The government has agreed to turn the old library into a Children’s Library. We will not give it to anybody. It is not for commercial or individual purposes. It will remain as a government building to benefit the people.”
She added that most of the books in the old library had been shifted to existing libraries statewide.