Open and airy, Little Giraffe Story House welcomes everyone (All photos: Patrick Goh)
Little Giraffe Story House (LGSH) is a tale in itself, one immersed in the joy and pleasure you get from reading. This small library started in a container before moving to a once-decrepit building. It has been running for more than six years now, all because four architecture graduates believed that children should have access to books.
Lee Soon Yong, curator of the community library at Batu 11 Cheras, Selangor, is the only one among the group still with LGSH. There are many touching chapters to this story, one of which is that Lee was born there and part-timed at the container before galvanising his friends to give it a permanent address. He tells it page by page.
In 2017, a handful of aunties bought the 12x8ft unit and brought in books because there was no library where they lived, or nearby. Its maximum capacity was 20 and they ran it on a voluntary basis, waiting for people to walk in as and when.
Batu 11 is typical of the Chinese villages that were newly set up in Malaysia between the 1950s and 60s. Lee’s parents moved to a taman minutes away when he was a boy. After completing his architecture degree in Taiwan, he worked in China for two years before returning to Kuala Lumpur in 2015.
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“Every weekend, I came back and volunteered at that library for one year. I knew the aunties wanted new people to take charge because it couldn’t continue as it was.” He also knew the space issue could be solved if it moved to another venue. “In Taiwan, I saw how the government preserved old buildings and put in new content to sustain them and keep the historical elements. I wanted to try that, using concepts I had learnt.”
Lee found a rundown house an owner was renting out to foreign workers and presented a paper on his plans for LGSH — so-named because children like giraffes — to the village community. “At first, no one understood: a library, an old house and a project that needed lots of money.”
As luck would have it, Malaysian insurance company Manulife held a campaign that encouraged participants to submit a 30-second video on what they wanted to do. Lee took part and was one of three winners of RM10,000 each — money he used to kickstart the library.
He approached former classmates and friends for help. Loke Chee Yung, Joden Pu and Chua Ban Chuan responded, quit their jobs and, starting January 2018, spent six months knocking down the old structure and rebuilding it. They sawed, nailed and welded. What the four guys didn’t know, they learned from YouTube. They obtained funding from local authorities and associations, and a hardware shop sponsored the building materials.
Everyone in the village could join in with the carpentry, Lee recalls. The team retained some original green and pink panels which they used for the front, and also kept the flooring. They put in raised platforms for better ventilation and fixed long glass windows to let light and air in. There is no air-conditioning. They redid the roof and put up benches under a tree, so people could read outside.
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Lee says: “The story I want to tell is that if we don’t preserve these old buildings and use them, they will just go. There won’t be any evidence of their history, the way they were structured, the materials used, or the people’s lifestyle then.”
He has brought in different content to make the library work. Books take up half the space and the other half houses a café, Always Lapar, which helps pay the rent and other bills. The central area serves as an open platform for events and shows. The back portion of the building is Lee’s office, where he does architectural work and design.
LGSH retains its strong community element: Parents stroll in, usher their children to the shelves, then settle down for a bowl of laksa. It will be brought to your table by tireless aunty Ya Ying, 74, who lives opposite LGSH and works at the café.
On the day we visited, Always Lapar owners Chris Wong and Glison Khu were at a bazaar, so Lee’s Cheras pal Jack Lim Jen Seng and his sister Mei Lin popped up to offer Hakka noodles.
Early in the afternoon, a group of Japanese musicians, also friends, plugged in their gear and performed for free as a sort of “rehearsal” for a concert they were doing that night.
Lee chooses what he likes for the library — mostly picture books — and there is a good selection of English titles among the mainly Chinese ones. His wife Emma, an English teacher, helps out, as do volunteers when there is an event or a need. All are welcome to snuggle down and read but only members can borrow and take books home.
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“Anyone can run a community space as long as he is willing. I just do my thing here. If I have free time, I design my posters, run events and invite friends to share some food. I have working partners and can sustain myself while doing what I find interesting.
“After I completed my studies, I noticed a lot of interesting adults. Some were the materialistic kind, kiasu or kiasi. There were also those giving back to society and that inspired me. You know lah, monkey see, monkey do,” Lee says, with a laugh.
Although there is a donation box at LGSH, “this is a community library, not a charity group”, he emphasises. Those who helped with the building have found work elsewhere but he is happy to stay for as long as he can. As for what the neighbours say, he grins. “Not everyone needs to read, right? I share books and do it my way. Good or bad, I provide first.”
What makes this kampung boy feel good is knowing the villagers and their children have a place to hang out and visitors can get involved with the community. Now that is another story.
This article first appeared in issue No. 113, Autumn 2024 of Haven.
