True Blue Malaysian ...

Yesterday I did what any good patriotic Malaysian book lover would be proud of doing - I went to the National Library for the first time in my life! Together in my historic journey was Sharon, my kindred spirit.

From the Ampang Park LRT station, we took a short cab ride to the mammoth of a library located at Jalan Tun Razak. You can also go there by hopping on a Rapid KL bus from KLCC. It was directly opposite the National Heart Institute (IJN). We were suitably impressed by the big building. I promptly registered myself as a full-fledged member. The application form costs 20 sen and photocopying charges for my MyKad was 10 sen. Application processing fee is RM1. It costs a total of RM1.30 for the whole application thing. Very, very reasonable. Parking at the main building is free, too. Membership is opened to all Malaysians and foreigners. For Malaysians with MyKad, no membership card is issued. The MyKad acts as your library card. Which is way cool for my card-laden wallet.

They have a whole lot of multimedia and internet facilities there. Internet access is free of charge but patrons are only allowed 60 minutes of internet access per day. They also have a canteen there which offers Malay food to hungry library staff and patrons. There were quite a number of patrons milling about the place and reading at the ample tables and chairs provided. They were mostly students cramming for their exams. Ah, those were the days when I visited the library out of necessity and not leisure. The poor mites.

Sharon soon burrowed her nose in a non-fiction book while I roamed the whole library to my heart's content. The borrowing section was located in another building (Wisma Sejarah) adjacent to the main one. I was rather disappointed at their meagre selection of English fiction books and their photography book section was really pathetic compared to my bookshelf at home. I was sorely tempted to be a buyer of books for the place. But upon looking at the sleepy and bored faces of the library staff, I thought twice about working there. Some of them were even dozing off at their stations. But she was really friendly and helpful when I asked for some help in using their OPAC book search system. The poor mite must have been bored stiff in her job!

There were a lot of empty book shelves in the fiction floor. Still, it took me well over an hour to peruse books on the whole floor. It was a delight to come across books that I had always wanted to read but not buy. I selected 3 books with no difficulty whatsoever. As a member, I could borrow a maximum amount of 3 books for 3 weeks. I could renew them for another 3 weeks over the phone. Renewal of books are only allowed once.

I borrowed "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian" by Marina Lwycka, "Silverfish New Writing 2" and Roald Dahl's "Collected Short Stories". Needless to say, my inner book person was satisfied.

I guess the distance factor and traffic conditions made me take such a long time to pay homage to the National Library. But I'm glad I did. Going there is like a pilgrimage every Malaysian book lover should make at least once in their lifetime. Muslims go to Mecca. Christians and Jews go to Jerusalem. Book lovers go to... national libraries.

Next in line would be doing what Sharon likes. It's probably gonna be something sporty or outdoorsy. Heh.

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