Closure of library@orchard: D-Day (Part 4)

[From Part 3]

This post is dedicated to the 13 volunteers who signed up as the library@orchard citizen reporters (in no particular order):

1. Alice Cheong (she brilliantly archived the library@orchard interior with several 360 degree views; even generously supplied us with 20 copies of the CD)
2. Angela Jean (and her moving video, "You Are The One")
3. Christine Tjia (who wrote that "a small part of library@orchard" rescued her)
4. Donna Daritan (there's 11 things she loves and one thing she hates about the library@orchard)
5. Regina Chan (check out her pictures of the library@orchard, and man you'll never guess how old she is from reading her blog... she's young in age but pretty mature in thoughts!)
6. Joel Sim (who's "emo-fied by the touching scene" when the doors closed)
7. Kenneth Goh (and his Five People Who Will Miss library@orchard Very Dearly)
8. Charles Wong (and his "clandestine photography")
9. Ceneple (she created a category just for her library@orchard posts)
10. Priscilla Tan (disappointed that some "don't know and don't care")
11. Olivia Wee (she guest-blogged and shared her perspective after being away for three years)
12. Ian Timothy (he learned more about the library)
13. Max Teong (shares a conversation with a friend)

I discovered this post by Yuhui, who attended the party and felt "weird and uncomfortable" how the library seemed to be "raving about the impact of blogging and "citizen bloggers" in chronicling the last days of the library".

It's an interesting perspective. I suppose to a bystander, it could seem like overkill that we mentioned the bloggers in our Chief Executive's speech, plus several references by the MCs, and then a video tribute to the bloggers.

I suppose she he, as a blogger, felt that it might cause a rift between bloggers and non-bloggers.

I'm not apologetic though :)

The 13 citizen reporters deserved it (Joel was overwhemed by it apparently, with his mind going blank after what he called was the "OMG" moment, heh).

I commented in Yuhui's post, explaining that it wasn't about highlighting bloggers and non-bloggers. We were genuinely appreciative of the 13 volunteers. Their posts did make an impact as far as the library was concerned.

Collectively, their coverage, interviews, photos, video etc. gave us at the library a different perspective -- of how our library customers felt about the library. I guess you have to be working for the library to understand how those perspectives mattered.

Besides, I'd say NLB was unprecedented in allowing bloggers to have free rein over what they wanted to cover.

We didn't vet their content.

They could have posted the negative side of things or highlighted the unpleasant (there's always something negative to say, and there will always be people with axes to grind).

But they didn't.

They spent their own time and expenses writing, taking photos, making a video.

They saved the library@orchard in words and pictures.

So no, I didn't think it was excessive.

Folks, here's a personal Thank You to you once again.