The Singapore Lodge Theosophical Society
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The Singapore Lodge Theosophical Society
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One of the privileges of membership of The Singapore Lodge is access to the large collection of library books, many of which are out of print. The library collection started when the Singapore Lodge was formed on 24th January, 1889 and includes some rare books. Indeed many of the books in the library are physically over a hundred years old.
On 15th February, 1942, the Japanese entered Singapore. Andre Batiha, a Russian member of the Singapore Lodge, was afraid the library books would be destroyed. He was a supervisor of a plantation and had many coolies working for him. He, together with two other members, V. Rajagopal (Gopal) and D. C. Dasaratharaj (Raj) and the coolies, brought all the books to Andre’s house in Siglap for safekeeping. The tenants had all fled and no one was staying there. Andre Batiha was a hero of the Singapore Lodge for it was he who saved the library books. This is very significant as many lodges around the world lost their entire library collection during the Second World War.
The library, which is one of the greatest assets of the Singapore Lodge, has now 3,000 or so titles, divided into three sections – (A) Theosophy, (B) Religion, Philosophy and Science and (C) Eclectic. Members may borrow two books each time, for up to four weeks. The books may be renewed, for two more weeks, provided the titles have not been reserved by some other members.
The library is open for 30 minutes before any scheduled programme, including study classes and the Basic Theosophy Course. It will be closed during the scheduled programme to allow the Librarian, Assistant Librarian and other workers to participate in the programme. The library will be reopened for 30 minutes after the scheduled programme has ended. To facilitate members, the library catalogues by author and by title may be browsed on-line. Members are requested to co-operate by returning the books when they are due, to allow other members who may be waiting for the books to borrow them. Members are also requested not to borrow library books on behalf of someone else.
Happy browsing!
New additions (since April 2004)
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