The National University of Singapore (NUS) has faced intense criticism after an attempt to dispose of hundreds of books from the Yale-NUS College library sparked public uproar on 20 May 2025.
The incident, which unfolded at the Kent Ridge campus, drew swift responses from Yale-NUS alumni and current students.
According to a post by Yale-NUS graduate Mishael Hyat Ayub on social media platform X, the books were being removed in bulk and transported for shredding.
She reported that students were allegedly instructed not to film the process or attempt to take the books due to “security reasons”.
Attached to her post was a video showing large plastic bags filled with books piled along the pavement. Workers were seen loading them onto a lorry.
Hundreds of books are being dumped en masse by NUS. These books from the Yale-NUS Library are going to be shredded, with students requests to donate them denied. Students were asked not to film or take any books for “security reasons”. pic.twitter.com/FtlvRqNiBW
— mish (@mishaelhyatayub) May 20, 2025
Ayub criticised the move as wasteful and disrespectful, especially given that the college is in its final week before official closure.
She wrote, “This destruction represents a waste of taxpayer money and lack of care for valuable resources to student learning.”
She also noted that reasons cited for the shredding—security and RFID tag removal—were ambiguous and unconvincing.
NUS reportedly pledges book recovery and apology after backlash
A subsequent update from Ayub stated that after swift community action, including appeals by alumni and students, NUS agreed to recover some of the books from the recycling facility and pledged to distribute them in a future giveaway.
NUS has reportedly promised to issue an apology, though no formal statement has yet been released as of 21 May.
A petition launched by Concerned NUS and Yale-NUS students provided further details on the scale of the disposal.
It stated that approximately 60 to 70 bags of books were removed, each weighing 10 to 15 kilograms—translating to an estimated 2,000 volumes valued at over S$100,000.
The timeline provided in the petition indicated that around noon on 20 May, a recycling contractor, Green Orange Environ Pte Ltd, collected the books and sent them to Asia Recycling Resources Pte Ltd.
A student was reportedly informed that the books were to be shredded owing to NUS’s confidentiality policies.
Asia Recycling Resources later confirmed to the student that the order for disposal originated from NUS, and reclaiming the books was not feasible due to the need to certify the shredding process.
Concerned students and alumni call for transparency, demand answers on Yale-NUS book disposal process
The petition questioned the transparency of the decision-making process and demanded clarity on several issues, including:
- The total number and financial value of the books intended for disposal.
- The percentage of books that have since been successfully retrieved.
- Alternative disposal methods considered and why they were rejected.
- The consultation process involved before the decision.
- Current operational procedures for academic resource management and proposed improvements.
The petition underscored concerns about the responsible use of university funds, the value placed on educational resources, and environmental commitments made under the NUS Sustainability Plan.
It pointed out that the disposal contradicted the university’s goal of becoming a zero-waste campus and failed to explore simpler alternatives like book giveaways or public adoption drives.
The disposal incident occurs amid the final phase of Yale-NUS College’s closure, which was first announced in 2021.
Since then, administrative duties related to the Yale-NUS Library have been gradually transferred to NUS, culminating in a full handover by 2023.
Though the NUS Provost of Undergraduate Education has reportedly given informal assurances to prevent the shredding and pursue a campus-wide book distribution, the student community says no formal follow-up has been received as of 21 May.
The petition had garnered 464 signatures as of 10am on 21 May.
According to state media outlet CNA, NUS has not officially disclosed the final destination of the books or confirmed whether original plans have changed.
CNA reported that it received a response from NUS at 11.12pm on 20 May stating that the university was looking into the matter.
Concerned students and alumni have emphasised that their immediate priority is to retrieve as many books as possible and ensure such decisions are handled more transparently in future.
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