Shelves stolen, place messed up by kids: Boon Lay community library to close as it no longer 'makes sense', says founder

A community library in Boon Lay made headlines after its books and shelves were stolen in April. Now, it is closing down.

The library's founder, known as Hengster Koh on Facebook, said in a post on Tuesday (Oct 17) that he will be giving away all the books from the library and intends to remove everything by the end of the month.

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/groups/358396689222481/permalink/896441018751376/?mibextid=oMANbw[/embed]

This was a shocking decision to many especially because Koh had spent months collecting books and shelves to set up the open library at the void deck of his block.

On April 25, he found two of the shelves had been stolen less than a day after opening the library.

A day after that, all the books at the library were taken. However, Koh said they were returned hours later.

In response to comments on his latest post, Koh said it just doesn't 'make sense to maintain the place' considering the complaints and 'the mess that the children make every day'.

He also included a video of books from the library lying strewn on the floor as a boy is seen climbing the shelves.

He wrote: "When [you] have parents who allow their kids to do this, I think the effort to maintain the place is too much to handle.

"It's supposed to be a community effort, but everyone is waiting for me to do the work."

ALSO READ: Pure Fitness Suntec outlet's abrupt closure leaves netizens frustrated

This article was first published in Stomp. Permission required for reproduction.