(From left) Lau, Rashidah and Sudarsano using one of the winning installations – The Hanging Shelves which provides a comfy seat for bookworms to enjoy a read.
KUCHING: The top three winning Urban Street Library installations will be displayed the whole of this month starting Feb 3 at the old courthouse here.
A corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme by Arkitek KDI (AKDI), it called for participants to design a public-access library where people can take a book as long as they leave one.
At least, that is the idea behind it and the responsibility for the proper use of the libraries falls on the public, said AKDI founder and managing director Dato Sri John Lau at the launch yesterday.
“We received an impressive 37 designs, and the judges had a tough time deciding on the top three. There were many others which were impressive as well,” he said in his speech.
The competition ran from Aug 15 to Nov 6 last year.
Education, Science and Technological Research Ministry’s permanent secretary Datu Sudarsano Osman officiated at the launch of the Urban Library Kuching.
In his speech, Sudarsano said the only way to learn continuously, especially after one is done with school, is to read the latest technology or whatever field of interest.
“I am encouraged to hear that AKDI will donate books to two rural schools today. The challenge faced by rural schools is the lack of reading material and Internet connectivity.”
Sudarsano urged more companies to come forward to donate books to rural schools.
“Education is important in nation building. If you want to shape the future of Sarawak, we have to shape the people who will determine it. These people are the young ones in schools today.”
The top three designs are Floating Boxes in third place, Recycled Pallets Library in second, and Hanging Shelves in first place. The designs won RM500, RM800, and RM1,200 respectively.
Also present at the launch were Sarawak State Library CEO Rashidah Bolhassan and Old Courthouse executive director Ronald Ling.