Yap and Labangon @ 16th CONSAL
The 16th Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians (CONSAL) attracted about 800 delegates from 20 countries. CONSAL is a regional organization which provides a venue for librarians of Southeast Asian nations to have a dialog and promote cooperation in related fields of librarianship. Its mission is to lead the region towards greater participation in the international information community. The conference which happened last June 10-13, 2015 was sponsored by the Thai Library Association and the National Library of Thailand. A total of 84 papers were accepted including the paper of Mr. Joseph Yap, IMS Coordinator co-authored with Mr. Bilyson Alejo, Librarian from Citco, entitled, “The Voice of the Young: Attitudes and Perceptions of LIS Students and Young Professionals towards Professional Library Associations” was delivered. Another paper by Mr. Joseph Yap and Ms. Donna Lyn Labangon, Special Collections Librarian, entitled, “Embedding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Activities in an Academic Library: Highlights on the Social Aspects of the Human Library” was also presented. The theme for this triennial event is “ASEAN Aspirations: Libraries for Sustainable Advancement.” There were eight subthemes distributed under six parallel sessions: 1. Information technology to enhance ASEAN knowledge; 2. ASEAN libraries cooperation; 3. Corporate social responsibility; 4. Library education and training; 5. Role of library consolidation towards library development; 6. Library in ASEAN reading society; 7. Conservation and preservation; and 8. Ethics and standards.
The first day was intended for the registration. The second day was the start of the actual event. The opening ceremony was welcomed by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. There were three keynote speeches on day two. The speakers were the following:
· Ms. Sinikka Sipilä, (Finland) President of The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
· Mr. JakkritSrivali, (Thailand) Dir
· Ms. Ann-Marie Schwirtlich, (Australia) Direc
CONSAL member nations gave a brief country report in the afternoon. It was followed by a gala dinner hosted by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
The third day was devoted to the parallel sessions. Right after the sessions, the closing ceremony was held. The CONSAL XVI Outstanding Librarian Award was conferred to Prof. Chutima Sacchanand of Thailand. Four silver awards were also given to Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. A farewell dinner was hosted by the CONSAL organizing committee.
A library and cultural visit were the programs for the last day of the conference.