MIRI: Pustaka’s Bastin collection can now be downloaded for free.
This was disclosed by Miri Pustaka in a statement yesterday.
The Bastin collection comprised rare books and other materials acquired from John Bastin in 2000, and the collection is kept in the Bastin Room with other collections acquired through purchase or donated from other sources to Pustaka Negeri Sarawak.
The collection covers a wide range of topics about Sarawak and Borneo, mostly from the 19th and 20th centuries.
The collection in the Bastin Room currently accommodates about 900 items.
The main bulk of the collection contains more than 400 items from the personal collection of historian Dr John Bastin.
Most of the major works are on travel and exploration, ethnography and history as well as some children’s books and works of fiction.
Besides Pustaka, the John Bastin collection is also available at the National Library of Malaysia and National Library Board of Singapore.
It is currently located at the Special Collection Room, Level 1, Pustaka Negeri Sarawak.
Some of the collections have been digitised and available for access from Pustaka’s Online Public Access Catalogue at https://pustaka.librarynet.com.my/Angka.sa2/pustaka/OpacBasicSearch.htm?mobile=true or scan the QR Code in the poster.
