Yale-NUS College library's book adoption fair sees 'overwhelming response', next fair on Jun. 14

Following public outcry in May 2025 when news broke that hundreds of Yale-NUS College's library books had been discarded in light of the college's imminent closure, two book adoption fairs, one that was set to run between May 28 and Jun. 9, and a second one slated for Jun. 14, were organised by the National University of Singapore (NUS).

This came after NUS university librarian Associate Professor Natalie Pang apologised in a press conference on May 21 for the "operational lapse" that led to the disposals.

Pang announced on the same day that the remaining 8,500 books would be given out for free over two separate book fairs in May and June, organised by NUS.

Here's a publicity poster detailing the schedule of the first book fair.

The fair was open to Yale-NUS alumni, staff and their guests from May 28 to 30 from 5pm to 8pm.

Members of the public could attend the fair from May 31 to June 9, from 5pm to 8pm on weekdays and 2pm to 5pm on weekends.

A private event was also scheduled for June 7 from 11am to 4pm for Yale-NUS College alumni and guests.

"Overwhelming response" led to early wrap up

By the end of the first day of the book fair on May 28, a post on NUS Libraries' Facebook page announced that only 2,000 books were left.

The books were given away on a "first-come-first-served basis", it said.

However, on May 30, a day before the fair was slated to be opened to the public, NUS Libraries announced that the book adoption drive had ended earlier than expected due to an "overwhelming response".

Members of the public who missed out on adopting books so far are also encouraged to attend the second book fair on Jun. 14 at NUS' central library.

A member of Yale-NUS College's faculty said in an interview that he had seen long queues outside the library between May 28 and May 30, which were the days reserved for alumni and faculty.

When asked what members of the public can expect to find on Jun. 14, he said a number of books may have been set aside by NUS Library in order to ensure a fair opportunity for all demographics of attendees to adopt books.

"If they had given us a chance, we would have re-homed these ourselves"

When Mothership visited Yale-NUS library on May 31, a small crowd, unaware of the early termination of the book adoption fair, had gathered outside the locked doors of the library, on which a sign had been put up.

One attendee, a retired university professor, who had arrived at the library at the stipulated opening time of the fair, told Mothership that he was disappointed about its early closure, given that he had attended it "because [he] loves books".

"I have a 500-book library, so I wanted to see what they had", he said, further explaining that he was particularly interested in adopting books on early Christianity and history in general to add to his collection.

Nonetheless, the former professor expressed his relief about NUS' decision to give away the books instead of continuing to discard them, calling the latter "a foolish decision".

"Some people think books are obsolete, but not everyone [does], and some people still love books," he said.

A Yale-NUS College alumnus similarly said discarding of the library books carried a heavy "symbolic weight", given that "the school's final sort of farewell event happened just [nights] before", referring to a finale event held on May 17 marking Yale-NUS' closure.

"There is a sense of bereavement", he added, while emphasising that Yale-NUS College students "who build this place, want to make sure this stuff is shared".

He added that it was not about trying to "selfishly" preserve legacy, but it was about trying to prevent "needless waste" and sharing a "celebration of what was built".

He told Mothership that because he had been unable to attend the book fair in the days prior, he was disappointed about not being able to visit the library of his alma mater.

But the unexpectedly fast uptake of the books was "nice" to witness.

"It's an affirmation of what we all kind of believed, which is, if they had given us a chance, we would have re-homed these ourselves", he said.

There is also talk of creating a digital library with the saved books among some members of the alumni, according to one such member.

Background

The move by NUS to discard the library books was condemned by Yale-NUS alumni, faculty and members of the public, sparking discussions on the symbolic value of books and even the setting up of an online petition to retrieve the discarded books.

It was reported that students who had witnessed the books being packed for disposal were rebuffed when they tried to take them.

The Workers' Party MP Jamus Lim also reacted to the news on Facebook when it first happened, calling it "distressing", especially for academics like himself.

In the press conference on May 21, Pang explained that the roughly 9,000 "excess books" set for disposal had not been taken up by other libraries and faculty members when offered, leading to 500 of them being "recycled".

She added that she was "aghast" to learn that the books were being discarded.

Despite NUS' attempts to later retrieve the books, "logistical" constraints made it impossible to do so.

The incident has also led to NUS' libraries looking to adopt a new standard operating procedure, which will aim to increase the outreach to faculty to adopt books beforehand in order to "extend [their] shelf life".

Members of the public interested in adopting the remaining books can attend the second book fair on Jun. 14 from 2pm to 5pm at the NUS Central Library.

Mothership has reached out to NUS Libraries for further clarification.

Top image by NUS Libraries/Facebook