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Online Citizen
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Online Citizen
Yale-NUS student associates allegedly instructed to destroy over 100 DVDs from library collection
SINGAPORE: Student associates at the Yale-NUS College Library were allegedly instructed to destroy over 100 DVDs in April, just weeks before the college officially closed its doors. One student associate, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Straits Times that she felt 'very pained and sad' when she was asked on 24 and 25 April to destroy the DVDs using a penknife. She was instructed to make four deep cuts on each disc to render them unreadable. Many of the DVDs were films, including titles from The Criterion Collection, a prestigious American distributor known for restoring and releasing classic and contemporary films, often with scholarly materials such as director interviews and critical essays—issues highly prized by film enthusiasts. 'A lot of them were still in good condition and could have definitely found a new home,' the student said. 'I wasn't very comfortable with the scratching task either.' Another student associate, who was given a cart of at least 100 DVDs earlier in April, expressed frustration at the task. 'I was a bit fed up about the whole thing, to be honest, and was very reluctant to contribute my time to these efforts,' she said. Associate Professor Natalie Pang, University Librarian at the National University of Singapore (NUS), explained that the disposal of audiovisual materials is governed by stricter regulations than books due to licensing and copyright laws. 'Audiovisual materials are governed by licensing and copyright regulations, which restrict redistribution,' she said. 'We have integrated the DVDs we need into our collection. The DVDs that could not be rehomed were those which could not be redistributed.' However, Professor Pang did not specify how many DVDs were ultimately destroyed. Associate Professor Andrew Hui, a founding faculty member of Yale-NUS College, expressed dismay at the decision, calling it 'gut-wrenching.' Prof. Hui, who had personally requested Criterion Collection films for the library in 2012, warned of the importance of physical media in an age of unstable streaming platforms and shifting licensing rights. 'As streaming platforms are notoriously unstable, licensing rights shift, and digital catalogues are curated by commercial algorithms rather than scholarly values, physical media ensures long-term access to films that shape our collective memory,' he said. Prof. Hui described the destruction of the DVDs as 'a slow-motion act of cultural amnesia' and criticized the decision to involve student workers in the process. 'In a century where the past can vanish with a click, to destroy them—and to order undergraduates to do so (when they should be watching and learning from them)—is, for a humanist like me, a tiny but terrible act against art.' A former Yale-NUS librarian, who spoke on condition of anonymity, estimated that the library once housed between 1,600 and 2,000 DVDs. Book Disposal Controversy The DVD destruction incident follows closely behind a controversy involving NUS's handling of books from the Yale-NUS College library. On 20 May, photos and videos surfaced online showing employees from a recycling company loading hundreds of books onto a truck, sparking widespread criticism. The disposal of hundreds of books was described as wasteful and distressing by alumni, students, and members of the public. Workers' Party MP Associate Professor Jamus Lim described the incident as a failure of top-down decision-making with little consultation. In a Facebook post on 21 May, Asst Prof Lim described the disposal as distressing and emblematic of how Yale-NUS was itself shut down. He noted that many of the books were in excellent condition and could have been redistributed with proper planning and consultation. NUS Issues Apology In response to the backlash, NUS issued an apology on May 21 for what it described as an 'operational lapse' in its handling of the excess books. The university had initially planned to dispose of 9,000 books, but after public outcry, the remaining 8,500 books were spared, while 500 had already been recycled. Associate Professor Pang clarified that surplus books are typically redistributed across the NUS library system or offered to faculty and students. However, students had not been given the chance to access the Yale-NUS books before the disposal. 'We understand later that many students were interested in having these books, and we would have usually acceded to their requests,' she said. 'We did not do so on this occasion, and we apologise.' NUS also revealed plans to improve its procedures for handling surplus books. The university will now reach out 'more extensively' to faculty, academic libraries, and hold book adoption fairs for students, alumni, and the public. A public book giveaway on campus will take place from 28 May to 9 June for the remaining 8,500 books. The incident comes in the final weeks of Yale-NUS College, which officially closed after its last cohort graduated on 14 May. The liberal arts institution, founded in 2011 through a partnership between Yale University and NUS, is being phased out as part of a merger with NUS' University Scholars Programme, announced in 2021.
New Paper
4 days ago
- General
- New Paper
NUS book-dumping incident: Students also told to destroy DVDs of classic films
Student associates working at the Yale-NUS College Library were told by staff to destroy more than 100 DVDs in April, weeks leading up to the college's closure. One student associate who requested anonymity said she "felt very pained and sad" when she was asked to destroy the DVDs on April 24 and 25. She told The Straits Times she was given verbal instructions to use a penknife to make four deep cuts on every disc to ensure they could not be read. Most of the DVDs she was tasked to destroy were films, including DVDs from The Criterion Collection, an American company that restores and distributes important classic and contemporary films. Criterion issues are coveted and collected by film buffs because they are usually packaged with extra materials such as director interviews and critical essays. She said: "A lot of them were still in good condition and they could have definitely found a new home. I wasn't very comfortable with the scratching task too." Another student associate said she was given a cart of at least a hundred DVDs in early April and was tasked to scratch them with a penknife. She said: "I was a bit fed up about the whole thing, to be honest, and was very reluctant to contribute my time to these efforts." Associate Professor Natalie Pang, university librarian, National University of Singapore (NUS), told ST: "The rehoming of audiovisual collections is subject to different considerations from that of books. Audiovisual materials are governed by licensing and copyright regulations, which restrict redistribution. We have integrated the DVDs we need into our collection. The DVDs which we were unable to rehome were those which could not be redistributed." She did not comment on how many DVDs were destroyed. A student associate who worked at the Yale-NUS College Library shared a photograph she took of the scratches she was instructed to make on DVDs with a penknife. PHOTO: ST READER Associate Professor Andrew Hui, founding faculty member at Yale-NUS College, told ST it was "gut-wrenching" to hear about the order to scratch the DVDs. In 2012, the literature professor had personally requested films in the Criterion Collection to be made available in the library as academic resources. He said: "As streaming platforms are notoriously unstable, licensing rights shift and digital catalogues are curated by commercial algorithms rather than scholarly values, physical media ensures long-term access to film that shape our collective memory." Prof Hui, who was also head of studies for literature at Yale-NUS, called the move "a slow-motion act of cultural amnesia". "In a century where the past can vanish with a click, to destroy them - and to order undergraduates to do so (when they should be watching and learning from them) - is, for a humanist like me, a tiny but terrible act against art." A former Yale-NUS librarian, who spoke to ST on condition of anonymity, estimated that the library had a collection of around 1,600 to 2,000 DVDs. This revelation comes after NUS apologised on May 21 for an "operational lapse" which led to the destruction of 500 physical books. NUS had originally planned to dispose of 9,000 books, but halted the process for the remaining 8,500 books after photos and videos of employees from a recycling company loading books onto a truck circulated online on May 20. It drew sharp criticism from alumni and members of the public who called the disposal wasteful and distressing. Photos and videos of a recycling company loading the books onto a truck on May 20 were shared on social media, drawing criticism from alumni who called the disposal wasteful and distressing. PHOTO: COURTESY OF MS LEE JIAYING NUS will now be organising a giveaway on campus for the remaining 8,500 books from May 28 to June 9. Speaking to the media on May 21, Prof Pang said the university will introduce a new process for excess books. Under the new process, NUS will reach out "more extensively" to faculty and other academic libraries, and will hold book adoption fairs for its students and alumni, as well as the public. The incident comes after the final weeks of Yale-NUS College's existence, as its last cohort graduated on May 14. The liberal arts institution, founded in 2011 through a partnership between Yale University and NUS, is being closed following an announcement in 2021 of its merger with NUS' University Scholars Programme.
