Historical Background
Officially opened on 6 June 1980 in memory of the contributions of the late Tun Haji Mohd. Fuad Stephens, and his struggle in developing and uplifting the quality of life of Malaysians in Sabah, especially in improving education standards and knowledge.The establishment of the Library was brought about by the Research Department of Yayasan Sabah, with the assistance of a temporary committee consisting of the Chief Librarians of MARA Institute of Technology, National Library, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Library, Sabah State Library and Sabah State Museum. In 1994, the name of the library was changed to Tun Haji Mohd. Fuad Stephens Borneo Research Library, in line with the establishment of the Centre for Borneo Studies. On 1st May 2003 the library came under the Research and Development Division, Yayasan Sabah Group and its name was changed to Information Centre. Effective 5th May 2004, the Library was renamed Tun Haji Mohd. Fuad Stephens Borneo Research Library.

OBJECTIVE

  1. To serve as a reference, information and research source primarily for the government.policy makers and planners,and professional group as well as managerial and executive personnel.
  2. To act as an information centre for Malaysian citizens in Sabah to undertake research.
  3. To promote and participate in the development and advancement of Southeast Asian studies.
  4. To serve as a source of research with emphasis on Sabah and Borneo in general.
  5. To serve as an information source for various activities, project ventures or interests of the Yayasan Sabah Group and to maintain the institution's archives.
  6. To serve as a one stop information centre for the seven project areas and to consolidate research findings of the Research and Development Division, Yayasan Sabah Group.
  7. To serve and facilitate students studies in Sabah at tertiary level.
    Smart partnership and collaboration with other relevant agencies.
COLLECTIONS

Borneo Collection
This collection consists of special and rare material on Borneo. These materials cannot be taken out of the Library premises. Being a Library member also allows access to the Library collections in Sabah Nature Club, Danum Valley Field Centre and Maliau Basin Studies Centre.

General Collection
The General Collections comprises materials on various fields such as management, economy, forestry, education and others. Only registered members of the Library are permitted to borrow materials from this collection.
Reference Collection
This collection is made up of materials such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, guidebooks abstracts, indexes, bibliographies, statistics, etc. Reference materials can only be referred to in the library premises.
Serials Collection
This collection comprises magazines, bulletins and serial publications acquired locally and overseas.

Newspaper Clippings Collection
This collection consists of only New Sabah Times and Daily Express. These are displayed at the newpaper reading area. As of October 2003 the rest of the other National newspapers and newspapers clippings archives are available online through Bernama Library Infolink Service database (BLIS).
Newspaper clippings manually extracted from local and national daily newspapers consist of about 200 headings, covering a wide range of subjects such as the environment, economy, agriculture, women, biotechnology etc. as at 15th April 2003 only.
 

Bound Newspapers Collection
Bound newspapers encompass local newspapers such as the Borneo Mail, The Borneo Post, Daily Express and The New Sabah Times.
 

Pamphlets and Annual Reports Collection
These collection constitutes publications acquired from government departments and the private sector.
 

World Bank Publication Collection
Materials in this collection are deposited by the World Bank. The Library has been designated as the World Bank's Depository Centre for East Malaysia since November 1994.
 

Prospectus of Higher Education Collection
This collection comprises prospectus from local and overseas universities/colleges.
 

Multimedia Collection
This collection comprises materials in the form of microfilms, microfiches, video tapes, films, audio cassettes, slides, maps and compact discs. Only the duplicates of video tapes and audio cassettes are allowed to be borrowed by registered Library members.
 

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad's Collection
This collection consist of books and speeches by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad himself or written by others about him, covering various subjects from the beginning of his political career up to the present.