Hedwig Anuar is a pioneering Singapore librarian, archivist, educator and campaigner for women’s rights. Her significant and influential career as the first Singaporean director of the National Library laid the foundations for a modern library system, and resulted in the expansion of the library network across Singapore, making books readily accessible to larger numbers of Singaporeans over the years. She also served as the chairman of the National Book Development Council of Singapore. Anuar received the Pingat Pentadbiran Awam (Emas) (Public Administration Medal [Gold]) in 1969 for her contributions to libraries in Singapore. In 2007, she received the Lifetime Contribution Award from the Library Association of Singapore.

Born in Johor, Malaysia in 1928, Hedwig Anuar received her early education in Johor, before moving with her family to Singapore, continuing her education at the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus. Anuar’s father was a teacher and a school principal, which meant that their home was filled with books. With the influence of her father and the abundance of a wide variety of books at home, Anuar became a self-confessed bookworm.

Anuar’s studies were interrupted during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore, and she relied on self-study during the period. Wanting to do something useful and related to her passion, she started a newsletter together with like-minded friends titled The Thoughts of Youth and also self-published a magazine titled Light. Anuar also tutored English and worked as a relief teacher during the war.

After the war, Anuar pursued pure arts at Raffles College and went on to receive a Honours degree in English Literature at the University of Malaya, Singapore. With her passion guiding her, Anuar started working as a library assistant at the university’s library from 1952, taking the first step in what would be a significant library career. Three years later, she went to the UK to study llibrarianship at the Northwestern Polytechnic University in London, eventually receiving a Fellowship of the Library Association.

Finished with her studies, Anuar became an assistant librarian at the University of Malaya Library in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1959. The following year, she was seconded to Singapore to become the director of the National Library of Singapore, and was tasked to move the library from its then premises at the Raffles Library and Museum to its new location nearby on Stamford Road. Completing that, she returned to the University of Malaya Library, and would return to Singapore to again be the director of the National Library in May 1965, continuing a significant library career that would last almost three decades long.

The first Singaporean director of the National Library, Anuar’s impact and influence on libraries in Singapore cannot be understated. Under her care, the National Library saw developments in all aspects of librarianship in Singapore. In the first year of her service, Anuar started the Mobile Library Service to bring library books and services to students across the island in rural districts who had no easy access to National Library. To promote the service, she had short documentaries on the Mobile Library Service screened regularly in cinemas. In 1966, Anuar pushed her efforts for young readers further with the Young People’s Service, in order to promote and encourage readership among the young in Singapore.

Anuar personally scripted and produced a weekly Radio Singapore magazine programme called Our Library to introduce and promote what the library had to offer. She also wrote book reviews and press releases to promote new books and library services. Determined to build up the library’s collection, she helped implement the Printers and Publishers Act to ensure that copies of all new published material would be deposited with the library. To keep track of the library’s quickly expanding collection, Anuar initiated the Singapore National Bibliography.

Anuar’s efforts throughout the decades modernised the Singapore library system greatly. With Anuar at the helm, the library network expanded from a single library to nine libraries situated around Singapore. Library books and services became much more easily available and accessible to Singaporeans of all walks of life. This readily available wealth of knowledge contributed significantly to increasing the literacy of a young nation.

Throughout her library career, she also published over 100 articles, reports and conference papers, including the paper Blueprint for Public Library Development in Melaysia in 1968.

For her contributions to libraries in Singapore, Anuar received the Pingat Pentadbiran Awam (Emas) (Public Administration Medal [Gold]) in 1969. She also received a Honorary Life Membership from the Persatuan Perpustakaan Malaysia (Librarians Association of Malaysia) in 1973. In 2007, she received the Lifetime Contribution Award from the Library Association of Singapore.

Besides her work with the National Library, Anuar also was an instrumental figure in the establishment of the National Book Development Council of Singapore. She would go on to first be an honorary secretary for the council and then its chairman. In honour of her services and efforts in promoting child literacy, the council established the Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award in 2011 to promote children’s literature in Singapore.

Anuar was also a founding member of the Association of Women for Research and Action (AWARE), with which she served as president. For her pioneering efforts and involvement in women’s issues, she received the Woman of the Year award in 1993 from Her World magazine.

In 1988, Anuar officially retired from librarianship, but she carried with her efforts to increase literacy skills among Singaporeans. In 1989, she initiated the Women Learning English (WISH) programme for older women with the Society for Reading and Literacy, of which she was a founding member in 1985. She also became a member of the Publications Advisory Panel with the Ministry of Information and the Arts in 1992.

Currently, Anuar spends her free time writing a history of her family.