LIBRARY SERVICES

FRAMEWORK
LIBRARY SERVICES
FRAMEWORK
Library Services Framework
Philippine Copyright 2022 by the Secretary-General of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations.

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National Library of the Philippines CIP Data

Recommended entry:

ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information.

Library services framework / ASEAN Committee
on Culture and Information . — Manila : National Library of
the Philippines, in collaboration with National Commission
for Culture and the Arts,2022.
115 pages ; 30 cm.

ISBN 978-971-556-059-7 (hbd)

ISBN 978-971-556-060-3 (pdf)

1. Public services (Libraries) — Southeast Asia.

2. National libraries — Southeast Asia — Social conditions.
3. Libraries and the community — Southeast Asia.
4. Public libraries — Information services. I. Title.

025.50959 Z711 2022 P12022011

Book and cover design by

Hungry Workhorse Consultancy, Inc.
Printed in the Philippines
A Publication of the
ASEAN Committee
on Culture and
Information

2022

LIBRARY SERVICES
FRAMEWORK

Organized and Published

by

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF THE PHILIPPINES

T.M. Kalaw Street, Ermita, Manila, Philippines
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in collaboration with

NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR CULTURE AND THE ARTS

633 General Luna Street, Intramuros, Manila, Philippines
Tel. (632) 8527-2217
info@ncca.gov.ph
www.ncca.gov.ph
Foreword
H.E. Dato Lim Jock Hoi
Secretary General
ASEAN
therefore timely that the ASEAN Committee on

Culture and Information (COCI), Subcommittee

on Culture (SCC) through the National Library

of the Philippines has developed this

publication on Library Services Framework.

Based on the discussions at the Conference on

ASEAN Capacity Building in Library Services:

Reframing Libraries, Setting the New Normal

held from 17 to 19 November 2021, the

publication provides information on the

Libraries and archival institutions are an integral part of available services and the adaptation

society as they play significant roles as entryways to strategies developed by ASEAN national

knowledge and repositories of our history. They are crucial libraries to cope with current challenges. It also

in documenting local, regional and global experiences, offers a framework on library services that can

and contribute to the accumulation of social and cultural help guide us on where to focus our efforts, and

capital for communities. how to iterate our services effectively and

efficiently as we evolve and embrace the digital

Libraries also play an important function in countering the realm to adapt to the ‘new normal’ while

ongoing ‘infodemic’ where the overabundance of ensuring that we do not leave anyone behind.

information has led to the proliferation of fake news and To this end, cooperation between libraries in

misinformation, creating a climate of mistrust and ASEAN and beyond should be strengthened and

prejudice. As custodians of knowledge, libraries are a promoted to seek support from each other by

source of reliable information and advocate for sharing knowledge and resources to enhance

information and media literacy among the public. the capacities of libraries and their staff.

COVID-19 has unfortunately forced several cultural and I would like to express my sincere appreciation

archival institutions around the world to close their doors to the Government of the Philippines,

to the public. As these institutions have relied particularly the National Commission for Culture

predominantly on their physical spaces and collections in and the Arts (NCCA), for their continuous

transmitting their knowledge to the public, the pandemic support in advancing and strengthening

has compelled libraries, galleries and museums to adapt people-to-people exchanges in culture and the

to the situation through innovation and digitalization. arts. I hope the publication will enlighten not

just library professionals, but all public servants

COVID-19 and the 4th Industrial Revolution are prompting and the general public on the importance of

us to rethink the way we do things. Libraries will need to libraries in our communities, now and in the

transform digitally in order to adapt to shifting demands. future.

In this regard, there is a need to expound and increase

peoples’ awareness of the functions, challenges, and

future of our libraries and archival institutions. It is DATO LIM JOCK HOI
Secretary-General of ASEAN
Preface
Cesar Gilbert Q. Adriano
Director IV
National Library of
the Philippines
affect the delivery of library services

through the workshops and lectures

delivered.

Challenges in funding, infrastructure

improvements, opportunities in

collaboration and even bilateral regional

agreements, to name a few, are some of

the more crucial factors that have been

Library services have gone to evolution when the Covid-
raised during the online forum. Addressing
19 pandemic took over. While the outbreak continues to
these would mean better library services
immobilize the normal activities, libraries reframe their
and this is where innovation of library
services. The closed down of libraries did not halt the
services takes place: adapting new
delivery of library services. For its continuance, we
methods or incorporating new products or
struggled to utilize and rule the virtual domain. We
services to ensure continued and sustained
confronted numerous digital complexities, recreated
success of our libraries in the region.
and reinvented the systems and completely changed the

unnecessary and adapted to the new normal.

The pandemic required us to look into

digital capabilities. Thus, this publication

The process is strenuous particularly to libraries that are
compiled the records of the ASEAN member
not digitally well-established. It is in fact technically
states library services framework before
complicated that requires special skills and financial
and during the pandemic and its prospect
resources. Moreover, the constant change in the
in the recent future. Member states
government policies in addressing the spread of the
presented recommendations for the fullest
virus implies change in the management and operations
and effective delivery of library services.
of the libraries as well.
The aim is to gather support not only from

the public and private sectors but also from

To document the journey of the libraries, the National
the citizenry to give importance to
Library of the Philippines, together with the ASEAN-
information access. It also encompasses the
COCI and NCCA, conducted the online activity on
various structures adopted by the member
Reframing Library Services on 17-19 November 2021
states in order to cope with the challenging
wherein ASEAN Member States representatives from
times. May this humble work further enables
national and public libraries shared their insights on how
our ASEAN national and public libraries to
their library services changed given the impact of
look into the many sustainable ways that we
Covid-19. The event tackled not just the effects of the
can innovate our services in order to give
pandemic but also many other external factors that may
the best library experience for all.
 Acknowledgements 6

Acknowledgements

The National Library of the Philippines the preservation and

(NLP) extends its appreciation to the conservation of such give weight

Association of Southeast Asian to the mandate of ASEAN

Nations-Committee on Culture and national and public libraries to

Information (ASEAN-COCI) through ensure that the generations to

the National Commission for Culture come can fully experience how

and the Arts (NCCA) in funding this unique and special our region is.

initiative on reframing library services. Truth-telling as a way of

storytelling has never been as

While the effects of the pandemic important as it is now given the

have been felt globally, there have spread of misinformation

been opportunities as well that can everywhere. The libraries are

be leveraged on in order to deliver here as sources of truth and

better library services to the members history.

of the public. This is the intent of the

publication: to capture new ideas Once again, thank you to all the

and insights collectively and assess ASEAN Member States

how these can pave the way to a representatives from national

resilient way of providing library and public libraries who gave

services in this time of pandemic. their time and contributed in the

formulation of the framework.

Our Southeast Asia region is rich in Maraming salamat at mabuhay

culture, heritage and tradition, and kayong lahat!

 Contents 7

Foreword 4 Thailand 65
Lao PDR 28
National Library of
National Library of
Preface 5 Thailand
Laos

Acknowledgements 6 National Library of 68

Public Libraries in 32
Chiang Mai
Laos

Table of Contents 7
Vietnam 70
Malaysia 33
Synthesis of Country 8 National Library of
National Library of
Reports Vietnam
Malaysia
Libraries beyond
covid-19 : status, Public Libraries in 74
Sabah State Public 38
challenges and Vietnam
Library
prospects
Synthesis 78
Brunei 9 Myanmar 40
Dewan Bahasa dan Library Services 81
National Library of
Pustaka Library Framework
Myanmar

Cambodia 15 ASEAN Library 94

National Library of Services Framework
Philippines 48
Cambodia National Library of the
List of Contributors 110
Philippines
Indonesia 20
National Library of Public Libraries in the 53 Bibliography 111
Indonesia Philippines

North Borneo 24 Singapore 57

Provincial Public National Library
Library Board
Synthesis of
Country Reports
Libraries beyond Covid-19: status,
challenges, and prospects
Libraries Beyond Covid-19: Status, challenges and
prospects

Brunei Darussalam
Emi Suryaney binti Haji Hipny

L i b r a r i e s i n B r u n e i D a r u s s a l a m i n g e n e r a l a r e v e r y f a s t d e v el o p i n g i n s t i t ut i o n s t o
o f f e r l e a d e r s h i p , t r a i n i n g a n d s o o n . P u b l i c l i b r a r i e s a r e v ery wel l d ev el o p ed
e v e n i f a n a t i o n a l l i b r a r y i s y e t t o b e e s t a b l i s h e d . Sp ec i a l l i b ra ri es a n d
government libraries are growing rapidly. Special libraries function as the
k n o w l e d g e h u b i n t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e d e p a r t m e n t s o r m i n i s t r i es a n d m o s t l y o p en t o
t h e i r s t a f f a n d m e m b e r s . T h e L a n g u a g e a n d L i t e r a t u r e B urea u L i b ra ry , D B P
Library (Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Library) is the largest library providing
p u b l i c l i b r a r y s e r v i c e s f o r t h e w h o l e o f B r u n e i g o v e r n e d u n d er t h e M i n i s t ry o f
Culture, Youth and Sports.

Brunei has yet to establish its own

National Library, hence the DBP
Library acts as the national focal
point in the field of librarianship at
the national, regional, and
international level. The library is
responsible for providing a
comprehensive collection in various
fields of knowledge and has become
the main sources of information for
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Library the whole general public.
Source: Wikipedia

It is also the focal library for e-library in Brunei and has transformed the
t r a d i t i o n a l l i b r a r y m a n a g e m e n t s y s t e m t o a f u l l y a u t o m a t e d s y s t em a s wel l a s
e a s i n g a c c e s s t o l i b r a r y s e r v i c e s a n d c o l l e c t i o n s o n l i n e i n c l ud i n g d i gi t a l
c o l l e c t i o n s . T h e D B P l i b r a r y s e r v e s a t o t a l p o p u l a t i o n o f a b o ut 4 0 0 , 0 0 0 p eo p l e i n
t h e w h o l e c o u n t r y t h r o u g h i t s m a i n l i b r a r y a n d b r a n c h e s . T o d a t e, t h ere a re
m o r e t h a n 1 4 3 , 0 0 0 n u m b e r s o f r e g i s t e r e d u s e r s . T h e DB P l i b ra ry h a s
e x p e r i e n c e d u p s a n d d o w n s i n t h e n u m b e r o f v i s i t o r s o v er t h e y ea rs . H o wev er
i n 2 0 1 9 , i t h a s b r o k e n i t s r e c o r d a n d r e a c h e d i t s h i g h e s t p e a k o f 18 0 , 0 0 0 v i s i t o rs
which is approximately 45 percent of the population.

Brunei 10
The Bruneiana collection or the local
collections to date has reached 33,706
volumes comprising print materials such
as books, journals, serials, annual
reports, government publications and There are a total of 129
proceedings, as well as n o n -p r i n t library personnel at Dewan
materials such as DVDs and VHS tapes. Bahasa Pustaka Library, of
The general collections have a total of which 32 are professionals,
941,710 columns of books, 24,281 62 are paraprofessionals and
periodicals and 2,802 non-print materials 35 are support staff.
such as CDs, DVDs, audio and visual
materials.

The Books Collection Act Collection was handed over from the Department of
B r u n e i M u s e u m s o n 1 s t o f M a r c h 2 0 1 6 a n d t h e L a n g u a g e a n d L i t era t ure B urea u
n o w a c t s a s t h e c u s t o d i a n f o r t h e s e m o n o g r a p h s . A t o t a l o f 8 7 , 9 13 t i t l es a n d
1 8 0 , 6 3 5 v o l u m e s o f m o n o g r a p h s w e r e a c q u i r e d f r o m t h e B o o ks P res erv a t i o n Ac t
1967 Revision 1984.

A s f o r t h e S p e c i a l D o n a t i o n C o l l e c t i o n, t h e l i b r a r y h a s r e c e i v e d d o n a t i o n s f r o m
the embassies in the country which are named American Shelf Collection,
R u s s i a n L i t e r a t u r e C o l l e c t i o n a n d A l - K h a l i l b i n A l - F a r ahi d i P u b l i c at i o ns
C o r n e r. T h e A m e r i c a n S h e l f C o l l e c t i o n h a s a t o t a l o f m o r e t h a n 23 0 v o l um es o f
b o o k s , T h e R u s s i a n L i t e r a t u r e C o l l e c t i o n w i t h o v e r 1 0 0 v o l um es a n d l - K h a l i l b i n
A l - F a r a h i d i P u b l i c a t i o n s C o r n e r f r o m t h e E m b a s s y o f t h e S ul t a n a t e o f O m a n wi t h
over 250 volumes.

DBP provides equal access to

information to all users
Source: dewanbahasadanpustakalibrary. org Brunei 11
Library Services
Digital Collections
To date the library has digitized about 44,000
materials.
E-Books
This is in collaboration with PNM to provide
access to e-books. The library provides open
access through the e-library portal.
Reference
Bruneiana reference service and general
reference library are only allowed to be used
in the library premises. The Bruneiana
reference service is the most sought-after
service in the library.
Mobile Library
Second largest contributor towards number of
visitors with 90% serving primary schools in
the whole country, especially in the rural areas
and the communities in the vicinity.
Circulations
Patrons are allowed to borrow books 10 at a
time. Fines are imposed ($0.10) for late
returns.
Reading at the hospital
This is an extension to the existing circulation
service and is carried out monthly at major
hospitals in the country. Patients can make
use of their time reading while waiting for their
consultation.
Bulk Loan Service
Allows for lending collections of up to 500
books at a time for 90 days.
Reading Corners
This is the outreach service for longhouses in
the rural areas. Apart from the mobile library
service, reading corners allow the residents to
borrow a set of books placed at a designated
location. A minimum of 300 books are
provided for the service in the location and are
exchanged every three months or less
depending on the demand. This service has
thrived and was set up in rehabilitation centers,
prison and scout headquarters. This ensures
people from all walks of life are able to get
access to the library collections all over the
country.
Autism-friendly Library
This provides a space for users with autism
and through the conduct of monthly activities
for them. There is a sensorial room where
users get to wind down or calm themselves
while they are at the library. The children enjoy
joining the storytelling sessions, arts and crafts
activities, play and sing-along activities which
are done routinely during their library visits.
The librarians are especially trained by the
Autism Center in communicating and
interacting with the children. Apart from that
the children are also first made familiar with
the librarians to ease their experience in the
library. Graphic signages were also installed in
the library for them to be able to know what to
expect while at the library.
Brunei 12
 Before the pandemic there was a circulation
service where library users need to be
registered in order for them to be able to use
the facilities and services provided by the
library. Registration for locals and residents are
free whereas for expatriates and foreigners
there is a charge according to their user
category. Those below the age of 21 will be
charged an amount of $5 whereas for those
above 21 years there will be a charge of a one
time fee of $50.
During the outbreak of the pandemic, all
libraries, museums and galleries are closed to
minimize any public gathering and to avoid
outbreak of COVID-19 infection in the
community. To carry on with the library
services and to ensure the community is still
able to engage with the library and use its
services, a few emerging new services were
created.
One of the strategies to ensure the
number of visitors to the library reach
its yearly Key Performance Indicator
(KPI), each branch librarian has been
given their own individual KPI to
conduct a number of library activities
for members of the public. This is to
encourage the public to visit the
library and make the library as a
place for the communities to engage
with each other, learn from each
other and exchange expertise and
knowledge.
DBP is committed to provide lifetime of
learning for adults
Source: dewanbahasadanpustakalibrary. org
There’s the Book and Contactless Pick-up for
the circulation services to ensure the lending
services are available during the building
closures. Effort was made to utilize the library
hotline. Users send their borrowing list through
WhatsApp and the focal person will forward
their request to the respective libraries. They
would also need to book a slot for pick-up
times so that the materials can be prepared on
time. As for book returns, users used the book
drops available in all library branches. SOPs
were in place for handling books returned by
our users. During the closure, no late charges
are incurred.
Online Reference Services also make use of
the DBP Library hotline utilizing WhatsApp for
any reference inquiries our reference librarians
will provide all information needed and shared
with the users online.
The constant engagement with the
library users as well as potential users
prove to be beneficial to the library.
To keep up the momentum, the
librarians conduct their weekly
activities virtually during library
closures. The activities are carried out
in the form of live and recorded
videos, live sessions using Zoom or
Google Meet, online games and
quizzes using Kahoot.it, Wordwall,
Quizziz and other platforms. Social
media platforms as well as the library
portal are used to socialize the online
activities. Apart from that, it is also
shared to users' group chats. Users
are also encouraged to send and
share their own videos to get them
involved actively online.
Brunei 13
Challenges

T h e o n l i n e a c t i v i t i e s p a r t i c i p a t i o n s t a t i s t i c s i s v e r y e n c o ura gi n g s i n c e i t c a n
r e a c h a w i d e r a u d i e n c e a n d i s n o t l i m i t e d t o c o m m u n i t i e s i n t h e n e a r b y l i b ra ri es
o n l y . T h e r e h a v e b e e n m o r e t h a n 4 0 0 o n l i n e a c t i v i t i e s c o n d uc t ed wi t h a n a c t i v e
p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f 4 8 , 0 0 0 f r o m l i b r a r y u s e r s a s w e l l a s m e m b ers o f t h e p ub l i c
d u r i n g t h e p a n d e m i c . T h e c h a l l e n g e s f a c e d a r e i n t e r m s o f v i s i t o r s h i p, s e r v i c e
delivery and digital divide.

D B P l i b r a r y h a s m a n a g e d t o a t t r a c t t h e g r e a t e s t n u m b e r o f v i s i t o rs a y ea r b efo re
t h e p a n d e m i c b r o k e o u t . I n 2 0 2 0 , a l l l i b r a r i e s , m u s e u m s a n d ga l l eri es were
c l o s e d . T h e c l o s u r e l a s t e d f o r a b o u t 3 m o n t h s a n d o p e r a t i o n s were o p en ed up i n
p h a s e s a n d l i b r a r i e s w e r e a b l e t o s e r v e a t f u l l c a p a c i t y o n l y i n Augus t 2 0 2 0 . T h i s
definitely affected the library visitors, which went down by almost 30 percent
f o r t h e y e a r . B r u n e i w a s t h e n h i t w i t h t h e s e c o n d w a v e b a c k i n Augus t 2 0 2 1. It i s
m o r e s e v e r e a n d t h i s h a s a f f e c t e d t h e n u m b e r o f v i si t o rs t o t h e l i b ra ry ;
h o w e v e r , t a k i n g i n t o a c c o u n t t h e o n l i n e v i s i t o r s a s w e l l a s t h ei r p a rt i c i p a t i o n i n
o n l i n e a c t i v i t i e s , t h i s l a t t e r a p p r o a c h h a s b e e n a n a l t e r n a t i v e i n en ga gi n g wi t h
the users.

T h e D i g i t a l D i v i d e s t r o n g l y e m p h a s i z e d u s e r s w h o a r e n o n -d i g i t a l l i t e r a t e a s t h e
n e e d t o m o v e t o w a r d s d i g i t a l t r a n s f o r m a t i o n i s i n e v i t a b l e . T h e ga p h a s furt h er
w i d e n e d o n u s e r s w h o d o n o t p o s s e s s d i g i t a l s k i l l s , a s wel l a s t h o s e wh o
e x p e r i e n c e I n t e r n e t c o n n e c t i v i t y i s s u e s . E q u a l a c c e s s t o i n fo rm a t i o n a n d
s e r v i c e s p r o v i d e d b y l i b r a r i e s w o u l d b e h a r d e r t o a c h i e v e. T h e ec o s y s t em fo r
t h e L i b r a r y ’ s S e r v i c e D e l i v e r y h a s e x p e r i e n c e d a h u g e c h a n ge a n d a c c el era t ed
t h e n e e d f o r d i g i t a l t r a n s f o r m a t i o n . T h i s a f f e c t s t h e s e r v i c es , t h e wo rkfo rc e a s
w e l l a s t h e u s e r s ’ t a k e o n m i g r a t i o n t o w a r d s t h e In t e r n e t o f t h i n gs .

I n c o n c l u s i o n , t h e p a n d e m i c d o e s h a v e i t s p o s i t i v e a n d n ega t i v e effec t o n
l i b r a r i e s a l l o v e r t h e w o r l d . H o w e v e r , i n o r d e r t o s e e t h e c h a l l en ges a n d t urn i t
i n t o o p p o r t u n i t i e s , l i b r a r i a n s n e e d t o h a v e a p o s i t i v e m i n d s et , p us h t h ei r
c r e a t i v i t y t o t h e l i m i t a n d s t r a t e g i z e t o g e t t h e m o s t o ut o f wh a t t h ey h a v e.
C o l l a b o r a t i o n , s h a r i n g a n d a c q u i r i n g b e s t p r a c t i c e s f ro m o t h ers a re a l s o
b e n e f i c i a l t o w a r d s s e r v i n g t h e c o m m u n i t y d u r i n g t h e s e t o u gh t i m es . T h e a b i l i t y
t o a d a p t a n d a v o i d i n g r e s i s t a n c e t o c h a n g e i s a l s o i m p o rt a n t t o a c h i ev e a
positive outcome from the whole situation.

Brunei 14
Libraries Beyond Covid-19: Status, challenges and
prospects

Cambodia
Meng Piseth
The National Library of Cambodia (NLC) was built in the early 1920s in French
Colonial style and is located centrally in Phnom Penh on the same site as the
N a t i o n a l A r c h i v e s . I t w a s o p e n e d i n 1 9 2 4 w i t h a c o l l e c t i o n o f 2 , 8 7 9 v o l um es .
W h i l e i t w a s o r i g i n a l l y b u i l t b y t h e F r e n c h f o r u s e b y F r e n c h res ea rc h ers , wh en
t h e c o l o n i a l r u l e e n d e d i n 1 9 5 3 , i t w a s g i v e n b a c k t o C a m b o d i a a n d s erv ed a s
t h e c o u n t r y ’ s c e n t r a l l i b r a r y f o r a l m o s t 2 d e c a d e s . A f t e r t h i s , d uri n g t h e 19 7 0 ’ s ,
C a m b o d i a s u f f e r e d t h e d e v a s t a t i n g e f f e c t s o f w a r s a n d p o l i t i c a l up ri s i n gs t h a t
o c c u r r e d w i t h i n i t s b o r d e r s – i t s d a r k e s t p e r i o d b e i n g f r o m 19 7 5- 19 7 9 .

T h i s i s w h e n P o l P o t ’ s K h m e r R o u g e t o o k o v e r t h e c o u n t ry . L i ke t h e c o un t ry
i t s e l f , t h e l i b r a r y w a s a l l b u t d e s t r o y e d d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d . T h e gen o c i d e wa s
f o l l o w e d b y d e s p e r a t e y e a r s o f n e g l e c t d u e t o a l a c k o f r e s o urc es t h a t c a us ed
t h e l i b r a r y t o f a l l i n t o e v e n g r e a t e r d e t e r i o r a t i o n . S t i l l , t h e rec o v ery b ega n –
v e r y s l o w l y a t f i r s t – b u t i t b e g a n . O n e b y o n e p e o p l e s t a rt ed t o ret urn t o t h ei r
c o u n t r y t o w i t n e s s f o r t h e m s e l v e s t h e d e v a s t a t i o n C a m b o d i a h a d b ec o m e a n d t o
t r y t o d o w h a t t h e y c o u l d t o r e b u i l d . It w a s f r o m t h e s e a s h es a v i s i o n o f h o p e
w a s b i r t h e d i n t h e h e a r t s a n d m i n d s o f d e d i c a t e d K h m e r l i b ra ri a n s , v o l un t eers
and generous foreigners.

NLC has a rich history given

the country's past
Source: Khmer Times

A s t h e c o u n t r y s t a r t e d t o r e b u i l d i t s e l f , t h e s e h e r o e s o f t h e l i b ra ry h el d o n t o a
b e l i e f t h a t t h e l i b r a r y w a s e s s e n t i a l – a n d c o u l d b e c o m e so m et h i n g b i gger a n d
b e t t e r t h a n i t h a d o n c e b e e n . T h e y u n d e r s t o o d t h e p o w er o f p eo p l e h a v i n g
a c c e s s t o h i s t o r y a n d k n o w l e d g e a n d h a d a v i s i o n o f h o w a n ew, “ re- b o rn ”
l i b r a r y c o u l d p l a y a n i m p o r t a n t r o l e i n t h e h e a l i n g a n d r e b ui l d i n g o f t h e c ul t ure
and the country.

Inside NLC
Source: Google Images
 Pre-pandemic activities at
NLC
Source: NLC Facebook

The NLC is preserving all kinds of Khmer

books and documents in their collections
which are available to all Cambodians. This
provides the young and old alike with the
The library is open opportunity to learn more about their
Mondays to Fridays history. This is particularly important as
nowadays from 8am to some recent history is difficult for parents,
4pm. There are 20 who suffered tragically, to discuss with their
permanent staff including children. The library provides a safe place
the management team, IT for the young and old to read, research and
team and librarians. learn about their history – even the more
difficult chapters.
There are three offices:
Catalog, Conservation and The National Library of Cambodia has
Legal Deposit. There are acquired recovered books and book
around 125,000 books. fragments, literary gifts and donations from
many sources.

T h e r e s u l t i s t h e l i b r a r y ’ s r e s o u r c e s h a v e g r e a t l y i n c r e a s e d i n rec en t t i m es . T h e
NLC has established nine collections so far.

Depository Collection General Collection Royal Collection

Cambodiana Collection Landing Collection Map Collections
French Protectorate Palm Leaf & Manuscript Children Collection
Collection Collection
Cambodia 17
Library Services
T h e N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y h a s d i g i t a l s e r v i c e s t h a t h a v e b e e n c o m p i l ed fro m o l d
d o c u m e n t s a n d n e w d o c u m e n t s t h a t i n c l u d e : K h m e r l e g e n d , h i s t o ry , l i t era t ure,
e c o n o m i c s a n d m a p s , e t c . D i g i t a l s e r v i c e s a r e a i m e d t o h el p s t ud en t s i n t h ei r
r e s e a r c h a n d i m p r o v e s e a r c h t e c h n i q u e s . T o u s e t h i s serv i c e s t ud en t s a re
r e q u i r e d t o t y p e t h e t o p i c s t h e y n e e d i n t h e N L C w e b s i t e . T h e res ul t s c a n b e
read for free.

Information Services Circulation Services

Electronic Resources Services Se r i a l P u b l i c a t i o n S e r v i c e
Information Literacy Services L en d i n g S e r v i c e s
Reader Advisory Service Me m b e r s h i p R e g i s t r a t i o n

In order to ensure the original and good

condition of documents, NLC has initiated the Registration Fees
following services: lending service, guiding Cambodian students, 4,000
s e r v i c e , l e g a l d e p o s i t s e r v i c e , IS B N s e r v i c e , riels per year
accessing cultural and historical manuscript Cambodian, 8,000 riels per
service, reading service, and microfilm year
service. During COVID-19 pandemic, NLC still Foreigners, US$10 per year
implemented all above services and added and US$5 for 6 months.
more such as: ISBN issuing online, online
Cambodia Book Fair, Weekly Book online, and
online reading service.

S o m e a c t i v i t i e s b e f o r e p a n d e m i c w e r e r e a d i n g a n d p a i n t i n g b o o ks i n t h e
Children and Young Adult’s Section of the library. The NLC used its website and
s o c i a l m e d i a p l a t f o r m s l i k e I n s t a g r a m a n d F a c e b o o k i n p r o m o t i n g i t s s erv i c es .

Challenges
Source: movetocambodia. com

T h e N L C i s a s a f e h a v e n a n d v a l u a b l e r e s o u r c e f o r s t u d e n t s a n d fa m i l i es , b ut i t
h a s n o t b e e n i m m u n e t o t h e s e v e r e e f f e c t s o f t h e C O V ID -1 9 p a n d em i c . As t h ere
w e r e s o m a n y p e o p l e i n f e c t e d b y t h e v i r u s , t h e g o v ern m en t ’ s t em p o ra ry
l o c k d o w n o f t h e c o u n t r y h a d a n e g a t i v e i m p a c t o n b o t h s t ud en t s a n d fa m i l i es
w h o r e l y o n l i b r a r i e s a s p l a c e s t o s t u d y , t o a c c e s s t h e i n t e rn et , a n d t o s o c i a l i ze.
T h e r e h a s b e e n a s i g n i f i c a n t d e c l i n e i n l i b r a r y a c c e s s – b o t h i n p ers o n a n d
o n l i n e a s a r e s u l t o f t h e C O V ID -1 9 . C o n t r i b u t i n g f a c t o r s i n c l ud e t h e go v ern m en t
l o c k d o w n , a n i n t e r r u p t i o n o f o n l i n e s e r v e r a c c e s s a n d rec en t fl o o d i n g t h a t
hampered electrical service in homes and businesses.
Cambodia 18
 Cambodia 19

NLC has not digitized all of its There are fewer and fewer
collections or available patrons coming to the library
resources at this time, so as a result and for those who
students, families, and do come, the library cannot
researchers cannot access provide them with full service.
needed e-books, periodicals, Many positions in the library
etc. have been suspended due to
the decline in live visitors to
the library.

One of the main obstacles has

been the lack of cooperation
from the Ministry of Health and The pandemic has prevented
the head of Provincial the ongoing process of
leadership in providing creating a meaningful
pandemic records. Poor presence in the community.
communication and a lack of Plans to create partnerships
factual information seem to and build relationships with
keep everyone in the dark, schools and businesses in the
making it difficult to move area remain only an idea since
forward – even while the everyone has been affected
number of vaccinated and pursuing community
Cambodians is increasing. relations is no longer an option.
The best plan under this “New
In summary, the National Library is the Normal” is to increase
only place in Cambodia that preserves presence online and increase
the Kingdom’s literature and efforts to digitize collections
documents of cultural and historical for online access.
significance. The NLC, together with Unfortunately, this takes time
Cambodian Librarians and and resources which are not
Documentalist Association, has been r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e.
working closely to promote the
library’s work in creating a space for
C a m b o d i a n s t o e a s i l y a c c e s s i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t C a m b o d i a a n d i t s c ul t ure. W h i l e
t h e C O V I D - 1 9 p a n d e m i c p u t a n a b r u p t s t o p t o t h e p r o g r es s o f rec o v ery b ei n g
m a d e i n t h e p a s t 5 0 y e a r s – t h e c o m m i t m e n t i s t h e r e i n p urs ui n g c o l l a b o ra t i o n
e f f o r t s t o c r e a t e a n d d e v e l o p m o r e r e s o u r c e s t o m e e t t h e c urren t a n d fut ure
n e e d s o f t h e p a t r o n s a n d f u r t h e r e s t a b l i s h t h e i m p o r t a n t r o l e t h e l i b ra ry p l a y s i n
Cambodian culture and society.
Libraries Beyond Covid-19: Status, challenges and
prospects

Indonesia
Arief Wicaksono

Legal Deposit Library Preservation library

Research library Foster library
Reference library Center of library network

Highlighted above are the sixth

functions of the National Library of
Indonesia. There are two divisions in
the National Library of Indonesia:
Deputy of Library Resource
Development and Deputy of Library
Materials and Information Services
Development. NLI has 912 employees
out of which 538 are librarians. The
field of study of librarians is mostly
Library Science where 59% hold
Bachelor and Master’s Degree in
Library Science.

The number of collections of NLI is

about 5,721,385 copies, 78% of which
was obtained through fiscal funding,
with the 22% from legal deposit. The
NLI has two buildings. The first one
is located on Jalan Medan Merdeka
Selatan No.11 Jakarta where the
government has built a new library
service building which has 24 floors.
The second building is located on
Jalan Salemba Raya No. 28A Jakarta.
The facade of National
Library of Indonesia
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Library Services
Generally when the government decides a lockdown, building l i b r ar y
services are closed.

For circulation services a patron The reference service has shifted to

can book online and take the book online environments like online user
through a smart locker and return education through Zoom and live
the book through b o o k -d r o p streaming on YouTube, virtual
available 24/7. Under the new reference (ask a librarian through email
normal, patrons have to comply with and chat, send selective dissemination
health protocols when they visit the of information through email, reference
building. These include maintaining access series that publish on websites.
distance and wearing plastic gloves There are a lot of digital book
when using books or computers recommendations that are promote in
social media and website.

T e c h n i c a l t r a i n i n g f o r t h e c o m m u n i t y i n t h e n e w n o r m a l , h y b r i d m e t h o d s , m i xed
online and offline are used.

Challenges
C O V I D - 1 9 p a n d e m i c h a s d r i v e n t h e N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y o f In d o n es i a t o i m p l em en t
information technology in all activities.

F i r s t c h a l l e n g e i s a b o u t c o l l e c t i o n d e v e l o p m e n t. T h e N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y h a s 2 1 . 2 %
e - b o o k s . T h e l i b r a r y i s d e p e n d e n t o n t h e d i g i t a l p u b l i s h er en v i ro n m en t t o
a c q u i r e l o c a l e - b o o k s , a n d o n t h e c u l t u r e o f t h e l o c a l s i n us i n g e- b o o ks .
A l t h o u g h t h e u s e o f e - b o o k s i s b e c o m i n g a s o l u t i o n t o c o m m un i t y rea c h a n d a
m e a n s t o r e a d a b o o k i n t h e p a n d e m i c e r a , e -b o o k s h a v e o n l y b een c h o s en b y
2 2 . 8 % o f t h e I n d o n e s i a n p e o p l e . T h e o p i n i o n p o l l t h a t w a s d o n e b y t h e M i n i s t ry
o f C o m m u n i c a t i o n a n d I n f o r m a t i c s t h r o u g h s o c i a l m e d i a s h o wed 7 7 . 2 % o f
Indonesian people still choose conventional books.

S e c o n d c h a l l e n g e i s a b o u t r e f e r e n c e s e r v i c e . In M a r c h 2 0 2 0 , t h e N a t i o n a l L i b ra ry
s t a r t e d p e r f o r m i n g v i r t u a l r e f e r e n c e s e r v i c e ( a s k a l i b r a r i a n ) t h ro ugh c h a t . T h i s
s e r v i c e i s a s y n c h r o n o u s e n v i r o n m e n t t h a t p r e s e n t s i t s o wn c h a l l en ges t o m a ke
e f f e c t i v e l i b r a r y s e r v i c e s , t h e r e f e r e n c e s t o m e e t t h e d e m a n d , a n d i m p ro v e t h e
librarian's competencies.

Indonesia 22
T h e t h i r d c h a l l e n g e i s t e c h n i c a l t r a i n i n g f o r t h e c o m m u n i t y . T h e N a t i o n a l L i b ra ry
s t a r t e d a n e w t r a d i t i o n w h e n c a r r y i n g o u t t e c h n i c a l t r a i n i n g: ful l o n l i n e a n d
h y b r i d t e c h n i c a l t r a i n i n g h a v e b e e n l e a r n e d i n o r d e r t o gi v e t h e s a m e
experience and result with offline technical training.

Books on display at NLI

Source: LibGuides

T h e N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y o f I n d o n e s i a h a s b e e n l e a r n i n g fa s t t o i m p l em en t
i n f o r m a t i o n t e c h n o l o g y e s p e c i a l l y w h e n t h e p a n d e m i c s i t ua t i o n c a l l s fo r
r e s t r i c t e d m o v e m e n t . F u l l o n l i n e a n d h y b r i d s e r v i c e s h a v e b een d el i v ered i n
order to keep giving the community their information needs.

Recommendations are as follows:

Carry out full online and hybrid library services.

C i r c u l a t i o n s e r v i c e s b e p r o v i d e d w i t h o u t t h e n e e d f o r l i b r a ri a n s a n d t h ro ugh
t h e u s e o f b o o k m a c h i n e s f o r b o r r o w i n g a n d r e t u r n i n g b o o ks .
R e f e r e n c e s e r v i c e s b e d e l i v e r e d t h r o u g h t h e u s e o f v i rt ua l / o n l i n e m ed i a
communication.
L i b r a r i a n s m a y c r e a t e c o n t e n t t h a t i s u s e f u l t o p a t r o n s , i . e l i b gui d e,
pathfinder, index, etc.
L i b r a r i e s m a y l e a r n h o w t o o r g a n i z e e f f e c t i v e s e m i n a r s / w o rks h o p s / t ra i n i n g
and carry out those community development.
North Borneo Provincial Public Library
Yoseva Silaen
The North Borneo Provincial Public Library in Indonesia was established in
2 0 1 7 a n d i t i s l o c a t e d i n T a n j u n g S e l o r , t h e c a p i t a l c i t y o f N o rt h B o rn eo . N o rt h
B o r n e o o r K a l i m a n t a n U t a r a i s t h e y o u n g e s t p r o v i n c e i n In d o n es i a .

T h e l i b r a r y c o n s i s t s o f 2 D i v i s i o n s : D e v e l o p m e n t a n d C ul t i v a t i o n o f R ea d i n g
I n t e r e s t D i v i s i o n a n d D e p o s i t S e r v i c e a n d P r e s e r v a t i o n o f L i b ra ry M a t eri a l s
Division.

Inside a library (L) and a

mobile library in Indonesia (R)
Source: reuters. com

Part of the library experience is to direct

personnel to do good librarianship tasks in
There are 9 personnel carrying out excellent, correct and friendly
who specifically work in library services. Every so often, the library
the library services rotates the personnel to perform tasks on
assisted by 4 contract other services so that all personnel are
workers. always available and capable when placed in
any library service.

T h e l i b r a r y h a s a r o u n d 3 , 5 0 0 t i t l e s o f p r i n t e d b o o k s e q u i v a l en t t o a l m o s t 12 , 0 0 0
c o p i e s a n d a r o u n d 5 , 0 0 0 t i t l e s e q u i v a l e n t t o a l m o s t 1 8 , 0 0 0 c o p i es . N o t a s m a n y
a s o t h e r e x i s t i n g l i b r a r i e s m a y h a v e , b u t p a r t o f t h e l i b r a r y ' s s t ra t egi c p l a n h a s
b e e n a p p r o v e d b y t h e p r o v i n c i a l l e a d e r t o b u y b o o k s b o t h i n p ri n t a n d el ec t ro n i c
form every year for the library.
Indonesia 24
C o n s i d e r i n g t h a t t h e l i b r a r y s u p p o r t s t h e e c o n o m i c w e l f a re o f t h e p eo p l e o f
N o r t h B o r n e o , t h e l a s t t w o y e a r s h a v e b e e n t e n d e d t o p ro v i d e l i b ra ry b o o ks
w h i c h a r e r e l a t e d t o t h e l i v e l i h o o d s o f o u r s o c i e t y , s u c h a s b o o ks a b o ut m a ri n e
a n d r i v e r f i s h f a r m i n g , a g r i c u l t u r e , f a r m i n g , s m a l l a n d m ed i um en t erp ri s es ,
crafts, cooking, etc.

Library Services
L i b r a r y s e r v i c e s w e r e e a s i e r t o i m p l e m e n t b e f o r e t h e p a n d em i c . T h e s erv i c es
have been established both manually and digitally, as well as mobile. School
v i s i t a t i o n s w e r e a l s o c o n d u c t e d. L i b r a r i a n s a n d l i b r a r y a d m i n i s t r a t o r s u s u a l l y
g o t o t h e l i b r a r y f o r c o n s u l t a t i o n s a b o u t t h e i r c h a l l e n g e s , a s wel l a s d i s c us s i o n s
related to the development of their libraries.

A t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e p a n d e m i c i n M a r c h 2 0 2 0 , t h e r e w e re m a j o r c h a n ges t o
t h e l i b r a r y ’ s s e r v i c e s . T h e l i b r a r y s e r v i c e s w e r e n o t a v a i l a b l e fo r t wo t o t h ree
m o n t h s a n d a t t h e s a m e t i m e u s e r s w e r e n o t a l l o w e d t o e n t e r t h e l i b r a ry . T h e
library implemented a shifting system for staff and librarians. Some users
w o u l d s t i l l g o d i r e c t l y t o t h e l i b r a r y b u i l d i n g a n d t h e r e w a s a p res s i n g n eed t o
refer them to use the digital library. All library service personnel also provided
t h e i r m o b i l e p h o n e n u m b e r s f o r u s e r s t o c o n t a c t t h e m w h en t h e us er n eed ed
i n f o r m a t i o n , e s p e c i a l l y i n f o r m a t i o n r e l a t e d t o r e f e r e n c e m a t eri a l s .

W h e n t h e n e w n o r m a l s t a r t e d i n J u l y 2 0 2 0 , t h e l i b r a ry s erv i c es d i d n o t
i m m e d i a t e l y o p e n a s t h e r e w a s a n e e d t o p e r u s e a l o t o f h ea l t h p ro t o c o l s a n d
visuals in the library. The library circulation service scenario was also
s i m u l a t e d t o p r e v e n t t h e s p r e a d o f t h e v i r u s . T h e l i b r a r y serv i c es were o n e b y
o n e o p e n e d u n d e r t h e n e w n o r m a l w i t h l i m i t e d n u m b e r o f us ers a l l o wed t o us e
t h e l i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s . E v e n i f m o s t o f t h e m p r e f e r r e d t o us e d i gi t a l l i b ra ri es , i t
s t i l l t o o k a l o t o f e f f o r t t o d i s c i p l i n e e v e r y o n e t o s t i c k t o t h e exi s t i n g h ea l t h
protocols.

Challenges
T h e f i r s t c h a l l e n g e i s t h e s o c i a l d i s t a n c i n g n e e d e d d u e t o t h e p a n d em i c t o
m i n i m i z e c o n t a c t b e t w e e n l i b r a r i a n s a n d u s e r s o r b e t w een t h em a n d l i b ra ry
m a t e r i a l s . T h e s e c o n d i t i o n s h a v e f o r c e d l i b r a r y u s e r s t o b e m o re d i gi t a l t h a n
e v e r b e f o r e i n q u i c k t i m e . I t t o o k t h e s h o r t e s t p o s s i b l e t i m e t o s h i ft t o d i gi t a l
l i b r a r y s e r v i c e w h i c h i n a w a y r e v o l u t i o n i z e d t h e w a y t h es e s erv i c es a re
delivered.

Indonesia 25
At the same time the pandemic also Library must be able to anticipate
required the improvement of the changes, as well as to balance the
information literacy skills of library use of library materials both printed
users, given the sudden change to a and digital in the future.
massive digital direction. Even though
the library has digital versions, users The pandemic pushed the change of
also use information sources from North Borneo Library to become a
search engines. This digital literacy more digital library than before,
improvement has been carried out at which in turn had an impact on
the beginning of the pandemic and encouraging users to be more digital
the new normal, and has been running as well. The library has been
until now through guidance via phone continuously socializing with users so
calls, emails, text messaging and that they are familiar with online
socialization through Zoom meetings. services. They didn’t have to come to
the library if their request for
The digital collections pose a information wasn’t urgent. The library
significant challenge given that users a l s o i n c r e a s e d t h e s p e e d o f In t e r n e t
will be more digital than manual. access and expanded access
locations around the library so that
This made the library rely heavily on users have been able to access the
the network during pandemic, Internet while maintaining social
considering that the number of distancing among users.
collections are still not optimal in
meeting the library users’ information It is important for librarians to
needs. Another challenge that has a improve their o n l i n e -b a s e d
common thread with the use of digital information search capabilities, so
online libraries was how to support that they can respond to user
library users when using these information needs without having to
services. This made the library meet face to face. The next
improve the capabilities of digital recommendation is that libraries
library and Internet access speed, not should have to increase their ability
to mention the library wifi access to anticipate the changing
distance. circumstances of this pandemic so
that in the future the balance
North Borneo library also need to between the use of print library
consider the future challenges to materials and digital library materials
make sure that when the new normal can be maintained.
becomes normal, the North Borneo

Indonesia 26
 Libraries Beyond Covid-19: Status, challenges and
prospects

Lao PDR
Khanphathat Manotham

The National Library of Laos is under the Publishing, Literature and Library
D e p a r t m e n t i n t h e M i n i s t r y o f In f o r m a t i o n C u l t u r e a n d T o uri s m . T h e l i b ra ry i s
r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f a l l l i b r a r i e s i n L a o s w i t h t h e o b j ec t i v e o f
b e i n g t h e c e n t e r o f d a t a i n f o r m a t i o n i n t h e c o u n t r y . It a l s o a i m s t o b e t h e
c e n t r a l t e c h n i c a l l i b r a r y f o r o t h e r l i b r a r i e s i n L a o s t o sh a re kn o wl ed ge a n d
e x p e r i e n c e s a b o u t l i b r a r y w o r k , a l s o i n p a r t n e r s h i p w i t h ASE AN regi o n s a n d
a b r o a d f o r l i b r a r y d e v e l o p m e n t , p r e s e r v a t i o n a n d c o n s e rv a t i o n o f i n t el l ec t ua l
p r o p e r t y , c u l t u r a l h e r i t a g e a n d n e c e s s a r y d o c u m e n t s f o r m a n a gi n g, c o l l ec t i n g
i n f o r m a t i o n , r e s c u i n g P a l m l e a f m a n u s c r i p t s , a n d f o r p r o v i d i n g p ub l i c a c c es s .

Laos has over 2,000 libraries

nationwide, all included in the
library association. The National
Library consists of: 11 public
libraries, 5 mobile libraries, 2 boat
libraries, 78 university and college
libraries, 55 special and private
libraries, 1,956 school libraries and
more than 8,500 bookcases for
Facade of the National
remote areas.
Library of Laos
Source: nationallibraryoflaos. net

T h e N L L h a s b o o k s , m a g a z i n e s , n e w s p a p e r s , In d o c h i n a c o l l ec t i o n , p a l m l ea f
m a n u s c r i p t , a u d i o v i s u a l c o l l e c t i o n i n w h i c h o u r m a i n c o l l ec t i o n i s a n a rc h i v e o f
traditional music in Laos.

T h e r e a r e 4 2 9 , 0 0 0 v o l u m e s i n t h e b o o k c o l l e c t i o n a n d t h e l i b ra ry p ro v i d es 9 3 , 665
v o l u m e s f o r p u b l i c s e r v i c e . T h e r e a r e b o o k s i n L a o a n d f o rei gn l a n gua ge s uc h a s
T h a i , E n g l i s h , C h i n e s e , K o r e a n , J a p a n e s e a n d F r e n c h b u t fo r L a o l a n gua ge we
there are 142,500 volumes.

For magazines there are a total of 30 titles with 12,580 volumes within the NLL.

F o r n e w s p a p e r s, t h e r e a r e 1 0 t i t l e s f o r a t o t a l o f 2 7 , 1 8 0 v o l u m e s . T h e i s s ues a re
c o l l e c t e d a n d s e w n i n t o m o n t h l y v e r s i o n s f o r e a c h t i t l e. T h es e a re n o t y et
s c a n n e d a n d n o t y e t a v a i l a b l e v i a t h e In t e r n e t .

Laos 28
The library started doing clippings in 2005
because the books are not enough for
library use and needs. The library has
included many articles in newspapers and
34 staff, divided into 6
magazines for clippings for more
sections:
information searching. There are now 3,790
Administration, Reading
sheets which are then scanned to a
and Public Relations
database and made available for searching
Services, Acquisition
in internal services only.
and ISBN Issue,
Cataloging and
On rare books, there are 3,000 volumes of
Technical, Palm Leaf
Indochina books which have been cataloged
Manuscript, and Reading
and digitized. These are also available
Promotion and Library
through internal services and not available
Network.
v i a t h e I n t e r n e t . F o r p a l m l e a f m a n u s c r i p t s,
there are 86,000 texts (368,000 fascicles).
Over 12,000 selected texts are now incorporated in the Digital Library of Lao
M a n u s c r i p t s c o l l e c t i o n . F o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n : h t t p \ \ l a o m a n us c ri p t s . n et

On the archive of traditional music in Laos, there are a total of 3,260 audio
r e c o r d i n g s f r o m 2 8 d i f f e r e n t e t h n i c g r o u p s . T h e l i b r a r y a l so h a s 5, 7 3 6 m i n ut es
o f v i d e o r e c o r d i n g s , 1 , 5 6 0 p h o t o g r a p h s , 1 4 6 t r a n s c r i p t i o n s o f m us i c , 7 0 d ra wi n gs
a n d d e s c r i p t i o n s o f m u s i c a l i n s t r u m e n t s . T h e s e m a t e r i a l s a re a c c es s i b l e t o t h e
p u b l i c b u t o n l y t h r o u g h i n t e r n a l s e r v i c e s a n d n o t t h r o u g h t h e In t ern et .

Library Services
B e f o r e t h e p a n d e m i c a f t e r t h e N L L m o v e d t o a n e w b u i l d i n g i n Dec em b er 2 0 16,
the library continued to collect library resources to a new system for services
p r e p a r a t i o n . S e r v i c e s p r o v i d e d t o t h e p u b l i c f o r b o t h l o c a l s a n d fo rei gn ers
i n c l u d e l i b r a r y l o a n , b o o k , n e w s p a p e r a n d m a g a z i n e r o o m s , a ud i o v i s ua l ro o m s
f o r m e m b e r s , i n c l u d i n g i n f o r m a t i o n o n t r a d i t i o n a l m us i c a n d p a l m l ea f
manuscript.
There are also mobile libraries to
provide information and literacy
programs to remote areas and
assist in improving quality of
education development in the
communities. The library also
contributes to community and
school libraries in cooperation with
EFA Japan and ALC organizations.
Inside NLL
Laos 29
Source: nationallibraryoflaos. net
Workshops for library development are also organized throughout the country,
c o v e r i n g l i b r a r y c a t a l o g i n g , t e c h n i c a l r e s o u r c e s w o r k s h o p s a n d i n c rea t i n g
a c t i v i t i e s t o p r o m o t e c h i l d r e n ’ s r e a d i n g f o r t e a c h e r s . Wo r k s h o p s o n b u i l d i n g
c a p a c i t y f o r l i b r a r y s er v i c e s , m a n a g e m e n t a n d l e a d e r s h i p a r e a l s o
c o n d u c t e d. T h e p u r p o s e i s t o h a v e m o r e s k i l l e d l i b r a r y s t a f f d e v e l o p m en t o n
k n o w l e d g e a n d e x p e r i e n c e s h a r i n g w i t h l i b r a r i a n s t o s t r e n gt h en c o l l a b o ra t i o n
d e v e l o p m e n t o f l i b r a r i e s i n t h e A S E A N r e g i o n . F o r e x a m p l e, t h e l i b ra ry s en t
r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s t o a t t e n d t h e In t e r n a t i o n a l N e t w o r k o f E m ergi n g L i b ra ry
I n n o v a t o r s ( I N E L I ) A S E A N p r o j e c t , A S E A N P u b l i c L i b r a r i e s In fo rm a t i o n N et wo rk
( A P L i N ) a n d V i r t u a l R e g i o n a l C o n f e r e n c e o f P u b l i c L i b r a r i a n s ( 1s t ASE AN V R C P L ) .

I n t h e e a r l y p e r i o d o f t h e p a n d e m i c , t h e l i b r a r y w a s s t i l l o p e n fo r p ub l i c s erv i c es
w i t h r u l e s s e t f o r n e w n o r m a l s e r v i c e s s u c h a s k e e p i n g d i st a n c e, wa s h i n g h a n d s
b y g e l o r a l c o h o l a n d p u t t i n g o n m a s k s b e f o r e e n t e r i n g t h e l i b ra ry . N o wa d a y s
l i b r a r y s e r v i c e s a r e s e v e r e l y a f f e c t e d . S e r v i c e s h a v e b e en s us p en d ed a t t h e
l i b r a r y a n d c o m m u n i t y b u t s o m e u r g e n t w o r k i s c o n t i n u i n g t h ro ugh o ut s o c i a l
m e d i a s u c h a s W h a t s A p p , F a c e b o o k M e s s e n g e r , e -m a i l , a n d Zo o m fo r
communication connection.

F r o m 2 0 2 0 t o t h e p r e s e n t , t h e p a n d e m i c c a u s e d a d e c r e a s e i n t h e n um b er o f
people accessing library services.

Challenges
During the pandemic, the National Library saw several challenges in the new
normal of life, including the need for modern technology systems to be used
as well as skills to use in online media, highlighted as follows:

Lack of Library, IT and ICT Professional staff

Knowledge of online applications remains limited

Staff capacity on Library management remains limited

Work equipment is not as modern as should be

Lack of budget
In this situation, the library has implemented the regulations of the National
C o m m i s s i o n o n P a n d e m i c C o n t r o l . T h e b o a r d l i b r a r y c o m m i t t ee h a s o n go i n g
t a l k s a b o u t p l a n s t o t r a n s f o r m a n d d e v e l o p t h e n e w w a y s o n p ub l i c s erv i c es
i n c l u d i n g i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f p l a n n e d d e v e l o p m e n t o f l i b r a ry s erv i c es wi t h t h e
a g r e e m e n t o f a l l r e l e v a n t b o a r d s o f t h e M i n i s t r y a s a c c o rd i n g t o go v ern m en t
p o l i c y a n d t o c o n t i n u e p e r f o r m i n g N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y s erv i c es d uri n g t h e
p a n d e m i c . C o o p e r a t i o n i s n e e d e d t o w o r k h a n d i n h a n d t o g et h er wi t h t h e b o a rd
d i r e c t o r s , s p o n s o r s , p a r t n e r s h i p a n d a l l r e l e v a n t l i b r a r i e s e m p l o y ees t o d ev el o p
p e r s o n n e l f o r r e s p o n d i n g t o t h e w o r k n e e d s , i n c l u d i n g s el f- i m p ro v em en t i n a l l
a s p e c t s s u c h a s k n o w l e d g e o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n , o n l i n e m ed i a us e, l i b ra ry
m a n a g e m e n t a n d l i b r a r y s e r v i c e s d e v e l o p m e n t f o r m o d ern i za t i o n a n d
sustainability.

O n t h e h i s t o r y o f p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s i n L a o s , t h e p r o j e c t w a s i n i t i a t ed 3 0 y ea rs a ft er
t h e f i r s t s t e p o f t h e p r o g r a m . T h e p r o j e c t a i m s t o r u n r e a d i n g p ro gra m i n t h e
s c h o o l l i b r a r i e s , c o m m u n i t y l i b r a r i e s a n d p r o v i n c i a l p u b l i c l i b ra ri es fo r c h i l d ren
and adults.

P u b l i c a n d p r o v i n c i a l l i b r a r i e s c a n b e f o u n d n a t i o n w i d e , w i t h m a i n a c t i v i t i es a n d
p r o g r a m s s u c h a s s t o r y t e l l i n g a n d r e a d i n g a c t i v i t i e s l ed b y p ro fes s i o n a l
i n s t r u c t o r s . T h e r e a r e 1 1 p r o v i n c i a l l i b r a r i e s a n d 2 7 p u b l i c c o m m un i t y o n es . T h e
m a i n o b j e c t i v e i s t o o p e n f o r p u b l i c u s e . P u b l i c l i b r a r y i s a wel fa re c en t er wh i c h
p r o v i d e s u s e f u l s e r v i c e t o t h e c o m m u n i t y b y f o s t e r i n g ed uc a t i o n , p ro v i d i n g
s c o p e f o r h e a l t h y r e c r e a t i o n a l a n d d i s s e m i n a t i o n i n f o r m a t i o n t o a l l s ec t i o n s o f
t h e s o c i e t y a n d s u p p o r t i n g e d u c a t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s i n t h e s o c i et y .

All public libraries have formation

and objectives according to the
Bas ic Objective National Library rules. Public library
provide information to the general is defined as a library which is
public to satisfy their information, accessible to the public and
education and recreational needs. generally funded from the
personality development provincial government, public
human adjustment source and may be operated by
spread of education civil servants.
self development
service and technology
culture of leisure
Source: nationallibraryoflaos. org
Public Libraries in Laos
Thongphanith Phoukham

Librar y Luapr abang

This famous and very popular library is
used by the local students, tourists and
local staff. The library has many
outdoor activities in the villages such
as reading promotion by boat.

Vientiane Capital Xieng Khouang Pakse

Other public libraries include Saravane, Sayaboury, Attapu, etc.

D u e t o t h e o u t b r e a k o f C o v i d -1 9 , t h e w o r k o f t h e p u b l i c l i b r a ri es i n L a o s b ec a m e
v e r y d i f f e r e n t . C u r r e n t l y t h e p u b l i c l i b r a r y i s u n a b l e t o o p era t e a s p er n o rm a l .
T h e n u m b e r o f i n f e c t e d p e o p l e i n t h e c i t y i s i n c r e a s i n g . T h e p ub l i c l i b ra ry h a s t o
f o l l o w t h e M i n i s t r y . T h e N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y s e r v i c e h a d t o a d a p t t h e wo rk p ro c es s
t o t h e n e w n o r m a l w a y t o r e m a i n s a f e f r o m C O V ID -1 9 . W i t h s o m e p ro v i n c es o n
lockdown, the Public library is using online service like WhatsApp, Zoom, and
telephone as ways to influence people to rent and return the books. This is now
the new normal way.

O t h e r b i g a n d s m a l l l i b r a r i e s i n d i f f e r e n t t o w n s h a d t o c l o s e d ue t o t h e
p a n d e m i c a n d w i l l o n l y b e a l l o w e d t o o p e r a t e i f p e rm i t t ed b y t h e l o c a l
g o v e r n m e n t . C h i l d p l a y a r e a s m u s t r e m a i n c l o s e d b u t s o m e l i b ra ri es h a v e
c o n t i n u e d t o p r o v i d e d i g i t a l s e r v i c e s s u c h a s v i r t u a l s t o ry t i m e. T h ere i s n o t
e n o u g h b u d g e t b u t a s f o r t h e f u t u r e p l a n s t o w a r d s t h e d ev el o p m en t o f l i b ra ry
services, the intention is to move forward from this pandemic and adapt to the
new normal. Laos 32
 Libraries Beyond Covid-19: Status, challenges and
prospects

Malaysia
Hasnida Jakeria

Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia (PNM) is a Federal Government agency under

t h e M i n i s t r y o f T o u r i s m , A r t s a n d C u l t u r e . It w a s e s t a b l i s h ed i n 19 7 7 un d er t h e
N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y A c t 1 9 7 2 . P N M i s h e a d e d b y t h e D i r e c t o r G en era l o f t h e N a t i o n a l
Library of Malaysia.

Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia

Source: National Library of Malaysia

The National Library of Malaysia has a total

workforce of 457 staff consisting of 3 main The 6 divisions that give services
groups: Top Management (2), Professional and to the public are the Malaysiana
Management Group (134), and Executing
and Foreign Reference Center,
Group (312). The top management includes
the Director General and the Deputy Director Circulation Department, National
General. The Professional and Management Center for Malay Manuscript,
group includes professional librarians, finance
Electronics Resources Division,
and administrative, and professional IT
officer. The largest group in the workforce is National Depository of Publication
the Executing Group. These three groups are Center and National Bibliography
working together to achieve the library's
Center.
mission and vision.

Malaysia 34
Library Statistics for Malaysia

1 National Library

5 Community Libraries

1,079 Rural Library 655 Special Library

10,887 School LIbrary 426 Academic Library

340 State Library

A s f o r t h e C o l l e c t i o n s o f t h e P N M, t h e r e i s t h e M o n o g r a p h C o l l e c t i o n f o r
M a l a y s i a n a a n d f o r e i g n c o l l e c t i o n s . T h e r e i s a l s o a S e ri a l P ub l i c a t i o n fo r
m a g a z i n e , b u l l e t i n , j o u r n a l , a n n u a l r e p o r t , i n d e x , g o v e r n m e n t p ub l i c a t i o n , d a i l y
n e w s p a p e r a n d a l s o g o v e r n m e n t g a z e t t e a n d l e g i s l a t i o n i n c l ud i n g m i c ro fi l m .
T h e o t h e r i s S p e c i a l C o l l e c t i o n s f o r p e r s o n a l , r a r e , m a p s , a rc h i v e, ep h em era
a n d r a t e d c o l l e c t i o n s . I n a d d i t i o n , h a n d w r i t t e n d o c u m e n t s a re a v a i l a b l e i n
M a l a y l a n g u a g e i n t h e M a n u s c r i p t C o l l e c t i o n . F i n a l l y , t h ere i s a l s o t h e
Electronic Media Collection of CD, VCD and Audio Books.

Inside PNM
Source: National Library of Malaysia

Malaysia 35
Library Services

B e f o r e t h e C o v i d - 1 9 p a n d e m i c , t h e l i b r a r y h a s b e e n p r o v i d i n g s erv i c es s uc h a s
c o n s u l t a n c y a n d a d v i s o r y , r e f e r e n c e s e r v i c e s , l a n d i n g m a t eri a l , ISB N a n d ISSN
a p p l i c a t i o n s e t c . W i t h i n , P N M p u b l i s h e d o n e s t a n d a r d o p e r a t i n g p ro c ed ure ( SO P )
f o r t h e l i b r a r i e s . T h i s s t a n d a r d o p e r a t i n g p r o c e d u r e ( S O P ) i s n o w us ed a s a
g u i d e o n h o w t o o p e r a t e t h e l i b r a r y d u r i n g t h e p a n d e m i c . T h e d el i v ery o f
services has changed and has shifted more to digital.

u-Pustaka Reference Material

This is a system to supply reading material to
the consumer. This system was already built
by PNM before the pandemic. During the
pandemic, the usage of the system increased
because of the high demand from the user.
Among the services provided to consumers
are: landings, returns and bookings books,
access to audio books, electronic books,
electronic newspapers, database services and
government publications
For reference services, applications for the
material are through email and phone calls.
Digitized information is then prepared to give
to them however; this is still subject to the
copyright act, which is why the whole
photocopy of the book cannot be given to the
user.
Users are allowed to attend the library by
appointment made in advance to enable the
material to be prepared in advance for user
reference.

Service to the Publisher

Before the pandemic, publishers used to come
to the PNM premises to apply for International
Standard Book Number (ISBN), International
Standard Serial Number (ISSN), or asking for
consultation. During the pandemic, a new
system has been introduced called My
Repository. All the applications for ISBN and
ISSN only applied from the system. It’s
become easier for the publisher.

Inter-library Loan
During the pandemic, the method of landing
and returning the material is changing. Books
are mailed directly to users using a courier
service and also use the same method when
returning the books. Application for the
material implemented through email and
phone call.
Challenges

First is the access to The second one is the

information as not all the c o p y r i g h t. I t i s r e q u i r e d t o
users have the right devices transform or convert the
to access the information. material from printed to
The situation is the digital. It is also at this stage
information provider does not where copyright issues are
reach the whole community. faced.
They may have a barrier to
access the information, such
as internet connectivity,
devices and so on. Not
everyone is IT-literate and
some of them are not familiar
with the system hence this is
one of the challenges and the
barrier into giving and
receiving the information.

A s a c o n c l u s i o n , l i b r a r i e s a r e s e e n t o h a v e t o g o t h r o u g h a p ro c es s o f d ra s t i c
c h a n g e i n p r o v i d i n g m a x i m u m s e r v i c e s t o u s e r s d u r i n g a n d a ft er C O V ID- 19 . T h i s
i s t o e n s u r e t h a t t h e l i b r a r y i s a b l e t o p r o v i d e a n d m e e t t h e i n fo rm a t i o n n eed s t o
t h e m a x i m u m l e v e l . A l o n g w i t h t h e c u r r e n t s i t u a t i o n , l i b r a ri es n eed t o c o n t i n ue
t h e i r r o l e i n d i s s e m i n a t i n g i n f o r m a t i o n t o t h e w h o l e s o c i et y wi t h refo rm s i n
terms of the information delivery methods.

First recommendation is to focus on Digital Collection by increasing the

c o l l e c t i o n o f t h e d i g i t a l c o l l e c t i o n s t o f u l f i l l u s e r n e e d . N ex t i s T r a n s f o r m i n g
Library Material from printed to digital format with consideration to the
C o p y r i g h t A c t . T h e l i b r a r y a n d t h e a u t h o r m u s t w o r k t o g e t h er. It i s o n e o f t h e
m o r e i m p o r t a n t t h i n g s t h a t n e e d t o b e d o n e . L a s t o n e i s p ro m o t i o n o f i n t en s i v e
c o u r s e s t o e n c o u r a g e u s e o f o n l i n e m a t e r i a l . T h e r e i s a n eed fo r i n fo rm a t i o n
a c c e s s s k i l l s o t h e r e i s a n e e d t o d o u b l e u p t h e p r o m o t i o n , d o ub l e up t h e
intensive course to encourage the use of online materials.

Malaysia 37
The Sabah State Library is a public library located in the North Borneo of
M a l a y s i a . I t i s c u r r e n t l y g o v e r n e d b y t h e M i n i s t r y o f S c i en c e, T ec h n o l o gy a n d
I n n o v a t i o n . T h e l i b r a r y i s m a s s i v e : 1 h e a d q u a r t e r , 2 5 b ra n c h es , 4 a d d i t i o n a l
s e r v i c e c e n t e r s , 7 4 r u r a l l i b r a r i e s ( s t a t e ) , 1 3 m o b i l e l i b r a r i e s a n d 8 Des @ n et .

Sabah State Library

Ron Ely Julian, Veronica Vivian Estrop and Rafiqa Binti Kamarudin
Sabah State Library
The workforce is led by the Source: Sabah State Library
director assisted by two
deputies and 13 heads of
divisions. Overall the Sabah
State Library currently has a
total of 334 staff.

Library collections are

divided into two types. The
first one would be the
physical collections. These
loan materials are fiction and
nonfiction, general references

s u c h a s a c a d e m i c r e f e r e n c e f o r s c h o o l c h i l d r e n , e n c y c l o p ed i a s a n d o t h ers . T h ere
i s a l s o r e f e r e n c e a n d s p e c i a l c o l l e c t i o n s . Cu r r e n t p o l i c i e s d i c t a t e t h a t i t i s o n l y
f o r i n - h o u s e r e f e r e n c e a n d n o t t o b e l o a n e d o u t ; e x a m p l e s a re t h e L o c a l H i s t o ry
C o l l e c t i o n , L o c a l C o l l e c t i o n , M a l a y s i a n a C o l l e c t i o n , G o v e rn m en t C o l l ec t i o n a n d
A n t i q u a r i a n C o l l e c t i o n . T h e l i b r a r y a l s o e n j o y s a b u n d a n t t i t l es fo r m a ga zi n es a n d
selected subject journals for research.

The e-Resources Collection has a total of 21,403 digital collections which can be
a c c e s s e d t h r o u g h S a b a h . e l i b , S a b a h . O v e r d r i v e a n d u -P u s t a k a P o rt a l .

S a b a h . e l i b h a s 2 , 5 7 8 t i l e s i n M a l a y a n d E n g l i s h l a n g u a g e s b y l o c a l p ub l i s h ers ,
a c a d e m i c r e f e r e n c e s f o r s c h o o l t e e n s a g e s 1 1 -1 7 . S a b a h - O v e r d r i v e h a s 1 8 , 8 2 5
t i t l e s i n E n g l i s h a n d C h i n e s e l a n g u a g e p r o v i d e d b y In t e r n a t i o n a l p ub l i s h ers . It
c o m e s w i t h t h e p e r s o n a l L i b b y m o b i l e a p p . A p a r t f r o m t h a t , t h e l i b ra ry a l s o h a s
joint collections as it is one of the 11 members of u-Pustaka Consortium which
p r o v i d e s 2 4 o n l i n e d a t a b a s e s a n d v a r i o u s l o c a l e -j o u r n a l s .

Malaysia 38
 Library Services

A s o t h e r p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s b e f o r e t h e p a n d e m i c , s e r v i c e s w ere ful l y o p era t i o n a l

a n d w e r e a c t i v e l y p r o v i d i n g l o a n a n d r e f e r e n c e s e r v i c e s ev ery d a y a n d ev ery
w e e k f r o m M o n d a y s t o S u n d a y s . V a r i o u s p h y s i c a l a c t i v i t i es were d o n e t o
i n t e r a c t w i t h p a t r o n s s u c h a s m a k e a n d t a k e p r o g r a m s , l a b c l a s s es a n d t h ere
w a s a l u x u r y t o h o s t i n - h o u s e p r o g r a m s s u c h a s s t o ry t el l i n g s es s i o n s ,
educational visits and information literacy awareness.

D u r i n g t h e p a n d e m i c , a l o t o f p h y s i c a l a n d f a c e t o f a c e s erv i c es h a d t o b e
t e m p o r a r i l y s h u t d o w n . O n l i n e s e r v i c e s w e r e p u s h e d f o r e- res o urc es t o wa rd s
patrons using LiveChat assistance, and platforms such as Sabah.Overdrive,
S a b a h . e l i b , i - L e a r n A C E , u - P u s t a k a , a n d C L A R E.

Utilizing social media like Facebook and TikTok were helpful as platforms to
v i r t u a l i z e o u r p a t r o n s ’ i n t e r a c t i o n s w i t h t h e l i b r a r y s u c h a s s t o ry t el l i n g s es s i o n s ,
p o e t r y r e a d i n g , b o o k r e v i e w s , a n d b o o k -l e n d i n g d r i v e t h r o ugh .

Challenges
Internet Access Copyright
Nowadays proper I nternet access has
become more of a necessi ty rather
than a pri vi l ege. Thi s i s especi al l y
i mportant i n provi di ng authenti c
i nformati on for al l . Wi th COVID-19
i denti fi ed as a new vi rus just over a
year ago, fake news has been
spreadi ng l i ke a wi l dfi re over the
pandemi c years.
Recommendations
Digital Library
The Mal aysi a Copyri ght
Act of 1987 protects the
Services
authors, copyri ght
The eLibrary Management System Integrated
owners and performers’
Conversational AI comes i n the form of chatbots
work from bei ng
and vi rtual agents. The pl an i s to i mpl ement thi s over
produced or di stri buted
the reference area and offi ci al websi te. Automated
wi thout authori zati on.
repl i es done by these conversati onal AI woul d surel y
Thi s has restri cted the
be abl e to l i mi t physi cal traffi c over reference desks
Sabah State Li brary
when i t comes to FAQs by patrons.
from di gi ti zi ng most of

Library Access the l i brary col l ecti on

and provi di ng di gi tal
The ThingLink pl atform i s a software for vi rtual
experi ence. Vi rtual l i brary tours woul d be on the
access to patrons.
When the l i brary doors were cl osed, l i brary websi te so patrons are abl e to experience the
physi cal engagement wi th patrons i s l i brary and browse further i nformati on. Thi s woul d
al so cut-off. Thi s has l ed to the defi ni tel y be val uabl e when i t comes to contri buti ng
patrons’ i nabi l i ty to util i ze l i brary more on di gi tal l i brary strategi es.
faci l i ti es such as Wi fi , computer
devi ces, and even facil i ti es or areas Lastl y i s the digitization of Reference Collection
l i ke di scussi on rooms and students’ whi ch proves to be an urgent need. i t shoul d be
studi o areas. about maki ng i t easi l y accessi bl e to patrons and l ess
restri cti ons.

Source: New Straits Times

Libraries Beyond Covid-19: Status, challenges and
prospects

Myanmar
Kay Thi Aye
C u r r e n t l y t h e N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y o f M y a n m a r i s u n d e r t h e D e p a rt m en t o f H i s t o ri c a l
R e s e a r c h o n N a t i o n a l L I b r a r y , M i n i s t r y o f R e l i g i o u s A f f a i rs a n d C ul t ure. T h e
N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y h a s b e e n e s t a b l i s h e d a s t w o n a t i o n a l l i b r a ri es .

I n 2 0 1 7 , t h e N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y Y a n g o n h a d b e e n t r a n s f o rm ed i n t o a m o d ern
l i b r a r y . T h e N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y ( Y a n g o n ) h a s b e e n s y s t e m a t i c a l l y ren o v a t ed ,
r e l o c a t e d , a n d i n s t a l l e d i n t o a d i g i t a l l i b r a r y s y s t e m i n a c en t ra l a rea o f
d o w n t o w n i n Y a n g o n D i s t r i c t . O n 1 s t J u l y 2 0 1 7 , t h e r e n o v a t i o n o f a c en t ury - o l d
b u i l d i n g f o r t h e N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y w a s o r i g i n a l l y s c h e d u l e d t o o p en i n Ap ri l 2 0 2 0
but it has been postponed due to coronavirus disease.

Library Services

T h e N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y o f M y a n m a r i s a p p l y i n g a h y b r i d s y s t em ; wi t h i n fo rm a t i o n
t e c h n o l o g y s o m e p r e f e r t o r e a d t h e b o o k s . T h e N a t i o n a l L i b ra ry i s t a ki n g
r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t o p r e s e r v e t h e n a t i o n a l l i t e r a r y h e r i t a g e t o h a n d o n t o t h e n ex t
g e n e r a t i o n . T h e r e f o r e , a n y l i b r a r y c o l l e c t i o n i s n o t a l l o w e d t o b e t a ken o ut s i d e
o f t h e l i b r a r y . M a i n l y , t h e l i b r a r y p r o v i d e s r e a d i n g r o o m s erv i c es . M o reo v er
t h e r e i s a p l a n t o p u t i n a p l a c e a l i b r a r y m e m b e r s h i p p r o gra m a s t h e l i b ra ry
circulation policy allows for (limited) books to be borrowed.

The National Library can also give

services such as reading room
services, reference services,
circulation services, multimedia
room services, digital library
services, audio video services,
services for the disabled,
children library services, online
reference services: ask a
librarian, and document delivery
services.
National Library of Myanmar
Source: Southeast Asian Archaeology Myanmar 41
Reference Multimedia Rooms
Reference services and research This is offered to users to play
inquiries can be made through email, multimedia data from voice of video
telephone. Users can find many acquisition and provide the
catalogs in digital from online public eTekkaatho digital library database
access catalog. It is offered to user which contains over 1,700 full text
through the website. academic resources. The Digital
Library Reading Room provides OPAC
o r O n l i n e P u b l i c A c c e s s C a t a l o g . It i s
offered to users to search national
library collection books, digital
periodical papers, educational reports
and documents, archaeological digital
reports and Buddhist literature.

Audio and Video Children Library

Patrons have access to Myanmar The children's library contains children
cultural and ethnic documentary films, literature such as tale books,
Myanmar traditional entertainment, illustration books and journals etc.
and records are planned to show Books are collected in Myanmar and
weekly or monthly. The National English languages.
Library Yangon, with the Blind
Education Center to collect the
brilliant books and an audio system.
Users can read the books and listen to
the audio books in the reading room.

Digital Database and Electronic Resources

D u r i n g t h e C O V I D - 1 9 p a n d e m i c a n d s t a y a t h o m e p e r i o d , t h e us e o f p h y s i c a l
space in the library cannot be provided to users.

O n M a r c h 3 , 2 0 2 0 , t h e N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y ( Y a n g o n ) a n n o un c ed t h e o n l i n e e-
r e s o u r c e s a n d o n l i n e d a t a b a s e , w h i c h p r o v i d e s t h e u s e r free o n l i n e a c c es s t o
t h e f o l l o w i n g d i g i t a l d a t a b a s e s : IG P u b l i s h i n g D a t a b a s e , E - T ekka a t h o Di gi t a l
D a t a b a s e , R e s e a r c h 4 l i f e P r o g r a m m D a t a b a s e , P r o Q u e s t D a t a b a s e.
Online Reference Services
The Ask a Librarian is an initiative Virtual Reference Desk where library staff
c h e c k a l l i n q u i r i e s s u b m i t t e d v i a e m a i l d u r i n g t h e o f f i c e h o urs .
U s e o n l i n e f o r m h t t p : / / w w w . n l m . g o v . m m / b h l i b / m e s s a g e / a d d . ft l t o a s k a
librarian.
Any library questions will be reply through nlm.reference@gmail.com after
one week from the date of receipt.
D o c u m e n t D e l i v e r y S e r v i c e s p r o v i d e d e l e c t r o n i c d e l i v e r y o f ful l - t ex t a rt i c l es ,
e B o o k s o r b o o k c h a p t e r s ( t o c o p y r i g h t r e s t r i c t i o n s a n d a v a i l a b i l i t y ) , p ro v i d e free
s c a n n i n g a n d e l e c t r o n i c d e l i v e r y o f a r t i c l e s a n d b o o k c h a p t er o f l i b ra ry
c o l l e c t i o n s . A l l m a t e r i a l s r e q u e s t e d w i l l b e s e n t t h r o u g h em a i l a ft er 2 - 4 d a y s
from the date of request.

Staff participated in the ASEAN and Online Public Program, Japan's

Korea program and the project of All Toshokan Ryutsu Center (TRC) and The
T o g e t h e r r e a d i n g c a m p a i g n. M a n y National Library (Yangon) have jointly
trainings and activities are conducted organized a public program during the
by the National Library of Myanmar COVID-19 period. It is the Homemade
and implemented by the librarians. Face Project as a children’s program
not only for Japan and Myanmar but
“Read Aloud” training was provided also from all over the world. A video of
to the school teachers, librarians from the various faces was created by
school and private libraries and librarians and host weekly on the
librarians of the National Library (Nay National Library Facebook page.
Pyi Taw & Yangon) offered lectures
and practices to trainees. Online Basic Library Training on 1
December, 2020 The National Library
For the Librarian Capacity Building (Yangon) and (Nay Pyi Taw) jointly
Training “Reference Services” launched the first online basic library
T r a i n i n g, o n A p r i l a n d M a r c h 2 0 2 0 training course during C O V ID -1 9
Reference Service Training and “User period. Two weeks course of online
Experience Research, Volunteer library training or any interested
Service” training to the librarians from persons on library information,
schools and private libraries President librarians, school teachers, private
and Vice President of MLA offered school librarians, and various
lectures on that training. background. Online library trainings
with Zoom Platform conducted by
librarians from National Library (YGN &
NPT).

National Library of Myanmar

Source: The Myanmar Times
S t a r t i n g f r o m F e b r u a r y 2 0 2 1 , a l l p l a n n e d co u r s e s w e r e c a n c e l e d d u e
to the Covid-19 pandemic.

I n 1 N o v e m b e r 2 0 2 1 , d u e t o t h e d e c l i n i n g r a t e o f t h e d i s ea s es t o
r e o p e n t h e l i b r a r i e s a n d m u s e u m s i n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h t h e C O V ID- 19
p r e v e n t i o n a n d c o n t r o l g u i d e l i n e s , t h e l i b r a r y r e o p e n e d In N o v em b er.
O n t h e f i r s t w e e k , t h e N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y h a s o p e n e d o n l y t h r ee rea d i n g
r o o m s ; r e d e s i g n i n g o f t h e l i b r a r y s p a c e s w i t h t h e s o c i a l d i s t a n c i n g,
r e - o r g a n i z a t i o n o f l i b r a r y s e r v i c e s a n d r e s t r i c t i o n s o f t h e n um b er o f
users visiting library. The number of clients to be used inside the
l i b r a r y a c c o r d i n g t o t h e s p a c e o f e a c h r e a d i n g r o o m t o e n s ure t h e
p h y s i c a l d i s t a n c i n g s h a l l b e o b s e r v e d a t a l l t i m e s . R e f e r e n c es a n d t h e
new library room in the second floor and general reading room on the
same floor, the general library room is opened top floor.

M o s t l i b r a r i e s a r e t e m p o r a r i l y c l o s e d d u e t o C O V ID -1 9 p a n d em i c , a t
t h e t i m e w h e n t h e l i b r a r y i s s t r u g g l i n g t o p r o v i d e s e r v i c e s . T h ere i s
i n s u f f i c i e n t s t a f f t o c a r r y o u t l i b r a r y w o r k a n d i n t h e c o n t ext o f t h e
country

Inside NLM
Source: Myanmar Digital Newspaper

C u r r e n t l y mo r e p e o p l e a r e r e l y i n g o n t h e o n l i n e d e l iv e r y o f s e r v i c e s a n d
i n f o r m a t i o n . A l l o n l i n e s e r v i c e s h a v e t o b e p r o m o t e d t h r o u g h t h e s o c i a l m ed i a o f
t h e l i b r a r y s u c h a s e m a i l , i n s t a n t m e s s a g i n g a n d w e b si t e t o s up p o rt t h ei r
services and reach out to the community.

Myanmar 44
The Information and Public Relation Department is under the Ministry of
I n f o r m a t i o n e s t a b l i s h e d i n 1 9 9 0 . T h e r e a r e n o w 4 1 4 l i b ra ri es un d er t h e
I n f o r m a t i o n a n d P u b l i c R e l a t i o n s D e p a r t m e n t . In 2 0 1 7 p ub l i c l i b ra ri es were
c h a n g e d t o a C o m m u n i t y C e n t e r s ( Y a n g o n , M y i t k y i n a , L a s h i o , K y i t o n g, M a n d a l a y ,
etc).

Public Libraries of Myanmar

Cho Nwehtay Win

Library Services
F o r L i b r a r y S e r v i c e , p u b l i c l i b r a r y i s o p e n t o t h e p u b l i c us i n g O p en B o o ks h el f
S y s t e m . T h e l i b r a r y i s o p e n M o n d a y t o S a t u r d a y . U s e r s m a y b o rro w a n y b o o ks ,
e x c e p t r e f e r e n c e . A u s e r c a n r e n t t w o b o o k s f o r f r e e f o r t wo weeks a t a t i m e.
The public library wifi service is available.

Children Library Service

In the Children Reading Room the library conducts storytelling, drawing, painting, telling story
and singing poem. Quizzes and games for children are held on special days like National Day
and Independence Day.

Mobile Library Service

A bus goes around the target area twice a day. The target places are schools, prisons,
monasteries, churches and sometimes offices. This service is provided
in target areas once in two weeks.

Training Services
Computer training services are offered from basic to advanced, as well as a variety of
language courses like English, Japanese Chinese and Korean. All courses are taught by
volunteer teachers.

Community Center Services

Community-based centers have also been set-up for the free use of local people, such as
meeting, gathering, party and club member activities (eg. book clubs, women's clubs, youth
clubs).

Myanmar 45
 Sports Services
The library can support the outdoor or indoor sports equipment and activities depending on
participants size. in addition, the library supports not only physical fitness exercises but also
brainstorming activities.

During COVID-19, online services were offered and the library heavily used
social media. On the Facebook account of libraries, book reviews were posted
and storytelling and talk show programs were also conducted. The library also
i m p l e m e n t e d s o c i a l d i s t a n c i n g , c o v e r e d t h e c o u n t e r s wi t h p l a s t i c s h i el d s ,
r e m o v e d t h e c h a i r s a n d m a n u a l l y c l e a n e d a n d d i s i n fec t ed t h e b o o ks . In
c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h t h e T R C i n J a p a n , o n l i n e s t u d i es wi t h J a p a n es e
representatives on Japanese language were also done and on how they set up
their services.

M o s t p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s a r e u s i n g o n l i n e s y s t e m s b u t s o m e a re n o t . It d ep en d s o n
t h e s i t u a t i o n o f t h e p u b l i c l i b r a r y . S o m e a r e s m a l l , s o m e a r e i n t h e rura l a rea s s o
d i g i t a l s e r v i c e s m a y n o t b e p r o v i d e d . B u t i n 2 0 2 2 , a l l p u b l i c l i b ra ri es wi l l c h a n ge
into the digital library system.

Challenges
T h e b i g g e s t c h a l l e n g e o f p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s i s a t t r a c t i n g p e o p l e t o us e t h e
libraries again. After COVID-19, services of public libraries need to be
r e s t o r e d . A s C O V I D - 1 9 i n t r o d u c e d a n e w w a y o f l i f e , p u b l i c l i b ra ri es n eed
to adopt and provide better services to the public.

During COVID-19, people learned to seek

knowledge in their own way. Therefore
public libraries need to find a good
answer to the question of why people
should come to the libraries. Getting to
the answer is the process we will have to
undergo post-COVID-19. COVID-19 is said
to have opened the door to technology
for libraries and brought about change. I
r e c o m m e n d t h a t p o s t - C O V I D -1 9 l i b r a r i e s
make changes with the help of
technology. We are trying to transform
the public libraries and innovate online
services in Myanmar. Technology is good
but the way people communicate is
better. Exterior of NLM
Source: Facebook
 Libraries Beyond Covid-19: Status, challenges and
prospects

Philippines
Chona San Pedro-Galo

T h e N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y o f t h e P h i l i p p i n e s ( N L P ) i s t h e r e p o s i t o ry o f t h e p ri n t ed a n d
r e c o r d e d c u l t u r a l h e r i t a g e o f t h e P h i l i p p i n e s a n d o t h e r i n t el l ec t ua l , l i t era ry a n d
information sources.

N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y o f t h e P h i li p p i n e s
Source: NLP Facebook page

On September 2007, the NLP was

reorganized into 9 Divisions for its
rationalization plan: NLP materials are
Filipiniana Division acquired through gift
Reference Division
or donation, purchase,
Research & Publications Division
exchange with libraries
Finance & Administrative Division
abroad and copyright
Catalog Division
Public Libraries Division
deposits. Materials not
Information Technology Division selected for the NLP
Bibliographic Services Division
Visio n
collections are used in
Collection Development Division the library’s book
allocation program for
The divisions or departments are under the public libraries.
offices of the Director and Assistant Majority of the library’s
Director, with the former being attached to collections are in
the Office of the President. The workforce
Filipino and English
as of September 2021 has a total of 187: 1
languages.
Director IV, 1 Director III, 54 are librarian
positions and 131 are non-librarian positions.

T h e n o n - l i b r a r i a n p o s i t i o n s a r e c o m p o s e d o f c o p y r i g h t e x a m i n er, a rc h i v i s t , b o o k
b i n d e r s , h i s t o r y r e s e a r c h e r s , i n f o r m a t i o n t e c h n o l o g y o ffi c ers , c o m p ut er
p r o g r a m m e r , a d m i n i s t r a t i v e p o s i t i o n s , j o b o r d e r s a n d c o n t ra c t s erv i c es . T h ere
a r e t w o d i r e c t o r p o s i t i o n s : D i r e c t o r IV i s t h e D i r e c t o r o r h ea d o f t h e N a t i o n a l
Library and Director III is the Assistant Director.

Philippines 48
T h e f o c u s o f N L P ’ s c o l l e c t i o n i s o n F i l i p i n i a n a m a t e r i a l s i n l i n e wi t h N L P ’ s
m i s s i o n . F i l i p i n i a n a m a t e r i a l s a r e a b o u t t h e P h i l i p p i n e s a n d Fi l i p i n o s , wri t t en i n
a n y l a n g u a g e , r e g a r d l e s s o f p l a c e o f p u b l i c a t i o n o r a u t h o r sh i p . N L P h a s 1, 7 8 2 , 617
l i b r a r y c o l l e c t i o n s o f b o o k s , s e r i a l , m u l t i m e d i a , e -r e so urc es , t h es es a n d
d i s s e r t a t i o n s , c a r t o g r a p h i c m a t e r i a l s , p h o t o g r a p h s , r a r e b o o ks a n d m a n us c ri p t s ,
b r a i l l e , l a r g e p r i n t s , a u d i o b o o k s a n d o t h e r a s s i s t i v e d e v i c es . O n e o f t h e m o s t
p r i z e d p o s s e s s i o n s o f t h e N L P a r e t h e w o r k s o f J o s e R i za l s u c h a s N o l i M e
T a n g e r e , E l F i l i b u s t e r i s m o a n d M i U l t i m o A d i o s. A n o t h e r p r i z e d p o s s e s s i o n i s T h e
P h i l i p p i n e D e c l a r a t i o n o f I n d e p e n d e n c e. T h e s e a r e a l l k e p t i n a s p e c i a l d o u b l e
combination vault in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section.

Library Services

The reader service offers one Reading Room open to the public. It is for the
c i r c u l a t i o n o f t h e F i l i p i n i a n a D i v i s i o n ( F D ) a n d t h e R e f eren c e Di v i s i o n ( R D)
c o l l e c t i o n s . C u r r e n t l y , t h e a c c e s s i b l e o n s i t e c o l l e c t i o n s i n t h e rea d i n g ro o m s a re
b o o k s , t h e s e s , a n d d i s s e r t a t i o n s w h i l e e -r e s o u r c e s c a n b e a c c es s ed o ffs i t e a n d
o n s i t e . D u r i n g t h e p a n d e m i c , t h e R e a d i n g R o o m i s a v a i l a b l e t o t h e p ub l i c b y
a p p o i n t m e n t a n d w i t h r e d u c e d s e a t i n g c a p a c i t y . T h e a p p o i n t m en t s y s t em i s
i m p l e m e n t e d t o c o n t r o l o r l i m i t t h e n u m b e r o f c l i e n t s p e r d a y . M i n i m um h ea l t h
s t a n d a r d s s e t b y t h e g o v e r n m e n t a r e s t r i c t l y o b s e r v e d . T o en s ure t h e s a fet y
a n d w e l l - b e i n g o f e v e r y o n e , a l l l i b r a r y c l i e n t s a r e r e q u i r e d t o fi l l o ut a h ea l t h
d e c l a r a t i o n f o r m b e f o r e a n y b o o k i n g f o r a p p o i n t m e n t i s p r o c es s ed .

The copyright registration is a service for creators of authors who wish to

p r o t e c t t h e i r o r i g i n a l w o r k s . Th e N L P a c c e p t s a p p l i c a t i o n s f o r c o p y r i g h t
r e g i s t r a t i o n v i a e m a i l . A p p l i c a n t s w h o s e a p p l i c a t i o n s w e r e a p p ro v ed h a v e t h e
o p t i o n t o p e r s o n a l l y c l a i m t h e i r C o p y r i g h t C e r t i f i c a t e s a t N L P o r h a v e t h ei r
certificates sent to them through mail or courier.

Another service is the International Standard Numbering System (ISBN, ISSN,

I S M N ) r e g i s t r a t i o n w i t h N L P . T h e B i b l i o g r a p h i c S e r v i c e s Di v i s i o n ( B SD) o f N L P
a s s i g n s I S B N , I S S N , I S M N , w h e t h e r p u b l i s h e d i n p r i n t , o n l i n e o r o t h er m ed i a .

Philippines 49
During the pandemic, the BSD
launched its International Standard
Numbering Systems-Philippines
Online Application Systems (INS-
The URL of the Online
POAS). Through the implementation of
application of the Numbering
this system, publishers are now
System in the Philippines:
provided with better services such as
h t t p s : / / i n s - p o a s . n l p . g o v . p h /.
less face to face registration
application and easy update on
publisher status and application development and maintenance of
information, system implementation, public libraries all over the country.
monitoring of the release number and There are 1,572 public libraries
an alternative platform for publishers affiliated with the NLP as of 2021. The
to promote their works. In addition to NLP continues to actively campaign
the online application, the NLP started for the establishment of public
providing consultation service via libraries via online communication
Zoom to promote INS-POAS, its and coordination even during the
features and requirements and to pandemic. NLP consistently searches
provide a venue for publishers to for LGUs without established or
raise questions, concerns and affiliated public libraries and these
suggestions for the improvement of become the target LGUs for invitation
the online application system. letters and campaign materials from
the NLP. Once communication is
Another service NLP offers is the established, NLP then provides
Cataloging in Publication (CIP) which technical assistance on the
is a voluntary service offered free of establishment and affiliation of
charge to Philippine publishers by the reading centers.
N L P t h r o u g h i t s C a t a l o g D i v i s i o n . It s
purpose is to produce standardized NLP also organizes training,
bibliographic descriptions for conferences, and seminars for public
Philippine publications. During librarians. NLP-PLD is tasked to
pandemic, publishers could opt to provide regular orientation sessions,
request for Cataloging in Publication follow-up training sessions, conduct
( C I P ) v i a e m a i l . O n c e t h e C IP i s services enhancement training, and
created, publishers receive it via professional development for public
email also. librarians and staff. NLP also provides
relevant training and regularly
Through its Public Libraries Division, communicates regarding learning
the NLP actively campaigns for the opportunities available at NLP and
establishment of public libraries and other library organizations.
provides guidance and technical
assistance to Local Government Units During pandemic, capacity building
(LGUs) in the establishment, through classroom training has
shifted to online learning and
webinars.

Philippines 50
These are regularly being conducted
by personnel of NLP. The webinars
and other training opportunities are
free of charge. One of the NLP
programs that train librarians and
library-in-charge with basic concepts
on managing a public library was
transitioned into an asynchronous
mode of learning called Online
Learning on Essential Skills for
Public Library Personnel. Aside from
the three-year development plan as
the major output of this online
learning, submission of impact stories
is also a required output. NLP also
offers a leadership training program
for public librarians or personnel
called Network of Emerging Filipino
Library Innovators (NEFLI) which is
now in its second batch.
Book allocation is another NLP
service. The NLP provides books and
other reading materials to existing
affiliated public
provides initial book allocation to
newly affiliated public libraries and
annual allocation of library resources
to existing affiliated public libraries, if
it renders reports promptly to the
NLP-PLD. Libraries that do not submit
monthly reports and other reports
regularly are not entitled to allocation.
During the pandemic, provision of
book allocation to affiliated public
l i b r a r i e s i s s t i l l b e i n g c o n d u c t e d . In
2020, the NLP partnered with a third
party distributor to facilitate the
delivery of resource allocation to
affiliated public libraries outside the
National Capital Region (NCR).
For those nearby libraries that are
capable of going to NLP and providing
service vehicles, their assistance was
a s k e d t o f a c i l i t a t e t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n . In
2021, newly-affiliated public libraries
signified their intent to personally
visit NLP to acquire their initial
allocation.
Next public library service is the
monitoring or ocular inspection
wherein officials of the NLP conduct
periodic monitoring of affiliated public
libraries to be able to evaluate their
status, activities, and services in
terms of performance and support
from their local officials. Monitoring
and evaluation of public libraries
during this pandemic is still ongoing
through the use of an online
monitoring form. The NLP no longer
has to physically visit the public
libraries in order to gauge their
activities. NLP also conducts
libraries. NLP scheduled monitoring of libraries thru
video chat via FB messenger, Zoom,
Google Meet, and other meeting
applications.
Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere
Source: NLP
N L P a l s o h a s s e r v i c e s f o r c h i l d r e n w h i c h i n c l u d e s t o r y t e l l i n g, rea d - a l o ud , p up p et
show, arts & crafts, and mascot appearances. These are offered occasionally
d u r i n g t o u r s a n d o u t r e a c h a c t i v i t i e s . F o r t h i s t i m e o f t h e p a n d em i c , s t o ry t el l i n g,
r e a d - a l o u d , p u p p e t s h o w s a n d a r t s a n d c r a f t s a r e n o w c o n d uc t ed v i rt ua l l y v i a
Facebook, StreamYard and YouTube.

I n a d d i t i o n , a L i v e K w e n t u h a n p r o g r a m w a s a d d e d t o t h e c h i l d ren ’ s s ec t i o n
s e r v i c e s . I t i s a o n e - o n - o n e i n t e r v i e w w i t h k n o w n c h i l d r e n b o o ks ’ a ut h o rs , b o o k
i l l u s t r a t o r s , s t o r y t e l l e r s , a n d r e a d i n g a d v o c a t e s v i a F a c e b o o k. T h e t h em es a n d
s u b j e c t o f t h e i n t e r v i e w s r e v o l v e a r o u n d t h e l o v e r e a d i n g , a p p rec i a t i o n o f b o o ks
and literacy.

Another service is the reproduction of alternative materials. To meet the

n e e d s f o r i n f o r m a t i o n r e s o u r c e s o f p e r s o n s w i t h p r i n t d i s a b i l i t i es , rep ro d uc t i o n
i n t o b r a i l l e a n d a u d i o b o o k s i s o f f e r e d a t t h e L i b r a r y f o r t h e B l i n d Sec t i o n . E v en
w i t h t h e p a n d e m i c , c l i e n t s c a n s t i l l r e q u e s t f o r b r a i l l e rep ro d uc t i o n a n d
a u d i o b o o k s v i a e m a i l . T h e r e q u e s t e d m a t e r i a l s w i l l b e s e n t v i a em a i l .

Health and safety protocols are enforced to ensure the safety of clients and
staff:
W e a r i n g f a c e m a s k a n d f a c e s h i e l d a r e m a n d a t o r y . L i b ra ry furn i t ure i s
spaced out with lower seating capacity.
T r a n s p a r e n t p r o t e c t i v e s h i e l d s a r e i n s t a l l e d a t a l l s e r v i c e c o un t ers .
B o d y t e m p e r a t u r e s c a n n e r s a r e a l s o a v a i l a b l e a t t h e e n t r a n c es .
Borrowed books are sanitized or disinfected.
C l e a n i n g i n h i g h t r a f f i c a r e a s a n d h i g h -t o u c h s u r f a c e s a r e st ren gt h en ed .
H a n d s a n i t i z e r s a r e p r o v i d e d a t s e r v i c e c o u n t e r s a n d i n d i f f eren t a rea s o f t h e
library building.

T h e r e a d i n g r o o m i s c l o s e d a n d c l i e n t s a r e e n c o u r a g e d t o us e t h e N L P ’ s e-
r e s o u r c e p o r t a l w h e n e v e r t h e g o v e r n m e n t i m p o s e s a l o c k d o wn a ffec t i n g p ub l i c
s p a c e s . T h e N L P ’ s e - r e s o u r c e p o r t a l h a s e x t e n s i v e d i g i t a l c o l l ec t i o n s t h a t c a n b e
a c c e s s e d o n l i n e o r o f f s i t e b y t h e a u t h o r i z e d o r r e g i s t e r e d c l i en t s o f N L P . T h e
p o r t a l c o n t a i n s e - j o u r n a l s , e b o o k s a n d e -s e r i a l s a n d o t h e r e l ec t ro n i c res o urc es .

Challenges
Lack of funding for ICT for the improvement of its technology-based services
Increased cost of electronic & printed resources due to economic instability brought
about by pandemic
Growing concerns on data privacy of clients
Limited/no access to internet of some clients

Philippines 52
 S o m e r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s t o c o m b a t p a n d e m i c -r e l a t e d c h a l l e n ges a re a s fo l l o ws :
A n a l y z e o r g a n i z a t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e o f N L P t o a l l o w a r e s t r u c t u ri n g o f i t s
s y s t e m s t o a l i g n w i t h t h e d e m a n d s o f i t s b e n e f i c i a r i e s a n d b e res p o n s i v e t o
their needs
Augmentation of library resources through partnerships
I n c r e a s e t h e c o l l e c t i o n o f e l e c t r o n i c r e s o u r c e s f o r w i d e r a c c es s
Strengthen networking and collaboration with other libraries (national,
regional, international)
M a x i m i z e s o c i a l m e d i a t o i n c r e a s e a w a r e n e s s o n N L P p r o g r a m s , a c t i v i t i es
and services
Online (full) application systems for all the NLP services

I n c o n c l u s i o n , N L P i s s t e p p i n g u p a n d c o n t i n u i n g t o p r o v i d e res o urc es a n d
s e r v i c e s t o i t s s t a k e h o l d e r s . A s t h e P h i l i p p i n e s c o n t i n u e t o d ea l wi t h C O V ID- 19 ,
N L P i s s t i l l i n n o v a t i n g n e w w a y s t o p r o v i d e s e r v i c e s f o r Fi l i p i n o s t h a t rea c h
b e y o n d p h y s i c a l b o o k s a n d b u i l d i n g s . N L P i s e x p a n d i n g, t ra n s fo rm i n g a n d
e n h a n c i n g i t s s e r v i c e s w h e r e v e r a n d w h e n e v e r p o s s i b l e. Di gi t a l c o l l ec t i o n s
c o n t i n u e t o b e a c c e s s i b l e a n d o t h e r d i g i t a l l y -e n a b l e d s erv i c es a re d el i v ered
w i t h o u t i n t e r r u p t i o n . R e c o g n i z i n g t h e e n o r m o u s v a l u e o f t h e l i b ra ry t o i t s
s t a k e h o l d e r s , N L P i s w o r k i n g e x t r e m e l y h a r d t o o f f e r l i b r a r y s erv i c es d uri n g t h i s
challenging time.

T h e “ n e w n o r m a l ” t a u g h t t h e l i b r a r y a n e w w a y o f d o i n g b us i n es s b y exp l o ri n g
a l l p o s s i b i l i t i e s a n d f l e x i b i l i t i e s i n o r d e r t o b e t t e r s e r v e i t s c l i en t s . L i b ra ri es i n
d i f f e r e n t c o u n t r i e s a n d r e g i o n s h a v e d i f f e r e n t s t r a t e g i e s t o s up p o rt c l i en t s i n
t h e b e s t w a y p o s s i b l e . D e s p i t e t h e c h a l l e n g e s , C O V ID 1 9 p ro v i d es a un i q ue
o p p o r t u n i t y t o r e t h i n k k e y r o l e s a n d c o r e v a l u e s d u r i n g t h i s v ery c h a l l en gi n g
time.

F a c a d e o f C a g a y a n P r o v i n c ia l L e a r n i n g
and Resource Center Public Libraries in the Philippines are run
Source: The Northern Forum by the Regional, Congressional and Local
Government Units pursuant to the
provisions of RA7743 or “An Act Providing
for the Establishment of Additional
Congressional, City, Municipality, and
Public Libraries in the Barangay Reading Centers throughout the
Philippines and appropriating the

Philippines Necessary Funds therefore and other

Purposes”. Majority of public libraries in
the country are affiliated to the National
Michael Pinto Library of the Philippines. Those that are
not affiliated with the National Library of
the Philippines are not included in this
report considering that there are no
available data gathered.
As of November 2021, below are the number of affiliated public libraries with
t h e Na t i o n a l L i b r a r y o f t h e P h i l i p p i n e s :

Library # of # of Libraries Temporarily

Active Inactive Closed
Category LGUs Affiliated Closed

Provincial 81 56 43 5 1 7

Congressional 243 6 5 0 0 1

Regional 17 1 1 0 0 0

City 146 115 88 16 3 8

Municipal 1488 603 200 265 12 126

Barangay 42,046 791 196 358 1 236

I n t e r m s o f s u p e r v i s i o n o f p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s i n l o c a l g o v e r n m en t s , p ub l i c l i b ra ri es
are experiencing confusion especially on the provisions of the Local
Government Code of 1991.

A s o f 2 0 1 9 , b e l o w i s t h e s t a t i s t i c s o f p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s b a s ed o n w h o h a v e t h e
administrative supervision over them:

Library Libraries under Libraries under No information whether

Category Legislative Executive legislative or Executive

Provincial 13 28 7

City 18 69 15

Municipal 85 78 161

TOTAL 116 175 183

M a j o r i t y o f t h e P u b l i c L i b r a r i e s a r e r u n b y n o n -l i c e n s ed l i b ra ri a n s . T h i s i s
b e c a u s e t h e r e i s a d e a r t h o f l i b r a r i a n s i n t h e c o u n t r y c a us ed b y t h e l i m i t ed
n u m b e r o f b o a r d p a s s e r s a n d t h e c a r e e r s h i f t i n g o f s o m e l i b ra ri a n s . B ut d es p i t e
t h i s s c e n a r i o , m a n y p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s e x c e l t h r o u g h t h e i n n o v a t i v e s erv i c es t h a t
they offer.
Philippines 54
I n t h e s u r v e y c o n d u c t e d b y t h e N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y o f t h e P h i l i p p i n es t h a t fo c us ed
o n L u z o n I s l a n d , t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e l i b r a r y m a n a g e r s b e l o n g t o t h e 3 5- 4 4 a ge
b r a c k e t . M a j o r i t y o f t h e p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s a r e l o c a t e d i n u r b a n a rea s . M a j o ri t y a re
o p e n f i v e d a y s a w e e k , t h e r e a r e s o m e s i x d a y s a w e e k . P r e- p a n d em i c t h e C eb u
C i t y P u b l i c L i b r a r y i s o p e n 2 4 x 7 - t h e P h i l i p p i n e s ’ f i r s t a n d o n l y p ub l i c l i b ra ry
that offers its services 24 hours a day for 7 days.

I n s o m e l i b r a r i e s , t h e p e r s o n n e l w e r e u t i l i z e d a s f r o n t l i n e r s i n t h e b a t t l e a ga i n s t
C O V I D 1 9 . S o m e s t a f f w e r e a s s i g n e d a s v a c c i n a t i o n a r e a m a n a ger, a s s i s t a n t s i n
t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f r e l i e f a s s i s t a n c e ( c a s h a n d i n k i n d ) a n d o t h er t a s ks s i n c e t h e
l i b r a r y i s c l o s e d . I n t h e m e t r o p o l i s , s o m e l i b r a r i e s w e r e c o n v ert ed i n t o i s o l a t i o n
f a c i l i t i e s f o r t h e i n f e c t e d i n d i v i d u a l s e s p e c i a l l y d u r i n g t h e s u rge.

I n t e r m s o f c o l l e c t i o n , a l l p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s h a v e p r i n t e d m a t eri a l s ( m o s t l y b o o ks ,
m a g a z i n e s , n e w s p a p e r s ) . O n l y a f e w h a v e s u b s c r i p t i o n s o r h a v e a c q ui red o n l i n e
r e s o u r c e s a s p a r t o f t h e i r c o l l e ct i o n . S o m e p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s , e s p e c i a l l y t h o s e w h o
a r e f i n a n c i a l l y s t a b l e h a v e o t h e r r e s o u r c e s w h i c h m a y i n c l ud e i n t ern et
c o n n e c t i v i t y , p u p p e t s , a n d o n l i n e d a t a b a s e s w h i l e s o m e o f t h e l i b ra ri es h a v e
s h i f t e d f r o m a c q u i s i t i o n o f p r i n t m a t e r i a l s t o o n l i n e r e s o u r c es t o res p o n d t o t h e
pandemic.

Library Services

Before the pandemic During the pandemic

Circulation Services Library Virtual Reference
Selective Dissemination of Assistance (L-ViRA)
Information Selective Dissemination of Information
Referral, Advisory, Technical Referral, Advisory, Technical Services
Services Tech4Ed Center Services
Tech4Ed Center Services Online Bibliographic
Internet Services Services/Research Assistance
Build a Library Program Online Children’s Show Program
Book Donation to Barangays Virtual Orientation
Bibliographic Teleradyo program via Facebook
Services/Research Assistance Outreach and Extension Services
Outreach and Extension Services Build a Library Program
Storytelling and puppetry Book Donation to Barangays
Digital Literacies Book Bike Program
Virtual Library Tours
Community Book Pantry
Capacity Building

Philippines 55
Challenges

I n c r e a s i n g n u m b e r o f i n f e c t e d i n d i v i d u a l s b y C O V ID -1 9 , c a u s i n g t h e c h a n ge i n
quarantine status
Funding to acquire online resources
Intermittent Internet connectivity
Transfer of manpower due to other or new assignments
L a c k o f m a n p o w e r d u e t o t h e d i f f i c u l t y o f h i r i n g p r o c e s s d u e t o p a n d em i c

W i t h t h e c h a l l e n g e s b r o u g h t a b o u t b y t h e p a n d e m i c , t h e p ub l i c l i b ra ri es
c o n t i n u e t o s t r i v e t o p r o v e q u a l i t y s e r v i c e s t o a l l i t s c l i e n t s. In n o v a t i v e s erv i c es
are introduced to reach out to the clients. With the innovative minds and
r e s o u r c e f u l n e s s o f l i b r a r y s t a f f , p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s a r e r i s i n g t o t h e c h a l l en ges
caused by the pandemic.

C o n s i d e r i n g t h e c h a l l e n g e s o f t h e p a n d e m i c , l i b r a r y s t a f f s h o ul d c o n t i n uo us l y
u p g r a d e t h e m s e l v e s i n t e r m s o f t h e n e e d e d s k i l l s t o p r o v i d e b et t er s erv i c es t o
o u r c l i e n t s . L i b r a r y m a n a g e r s m u s t c o m m u n i c a t e p r o p e r l y t h e n eed s a n d t h e
d i r e c t i o n o f t h e l i b r a r y i n o r d e r t o s e e k s u p p o r t f r o m a ut h o ri t i es a n d fun d i n g
offices.

Recommendations to address the challenges:

R e t o o l i n g o f l i b r a r y s t a f f t h r o u g h s k i l l s t r a i n i n g e s p e c i a l l y o n t h e us e o f
technology
R e v i e w t h e d e v e l o p m e n t p l a n o f t h e l i b r a r y t o c o p e w i t h t h e d em a n d s o f t i m e
P r o p o s e d f o r t h e a c q u i s i t i o n o f o n l i n e r e s o u r c e s a n d e s t a b l i s h m en t s o f o n l i n e
p l a t f o r m s f o r t h e c l i e n t s t o a c c e s s t h e r e s o u r c e s o f t h e l i b ra ry
T o e n c o u r a g e m o r e p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s w h o a r e n o t y e t a f f i l i a t ed t o a ffi l i a t e
themselves with the National Library of the Philippines.
F o r t h e N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y o f t h e P h i l i p p i n e s , A s s o c i a t i o n o f L i b ra ri a n s i n P ub l i c
S e c t o r a n d o t h e r a g e n c i e s t o l o b b y f o r t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e p ro v i s i o n s o f
R A 7 1 6 0 o r L o c a l G o v e r n m e n t C o d e o f 1 9 9 1 o n t h e p l a c e o f p ub l i c l i b ra ri es i n
the organizational structure of the Local Governments
F o r n o n - l i c e n s e l i b r a r y i n - c h a r g e t o q u a l i f y t h e m s e l v e s t o b ec o m e a ful l
pledge librarian as stipulated in RA 9246 and RA 7743
Libraries Beyond Covid-19: Status, challenges and
prospects

Singapore
Zulkifli Amin and Lee Maeiyu

The National Library Board was established in September 1995. Through the
y e a r s , N L B h a s c o n t i n u a l l y a d v a n c e d i t s e l f t h r o u g h s y s t em a t i c a l l y ret h i n ki n g
r o l e s a n d f o l l o w i n g t h r o u g h w i t h p l a n s b a s e d o n s t r a t e g i c b l uep ri n t s .

N L B ' s n e t w o r k o f 2 5 p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s i s c o n v e n i e n t l y l o c a t e d a c ro s s Si n ga p o re t o
e n s u r e r e a d i n g i s m a d e a c c e s s i b l e t o e v e r y o n e . B e s i d e s p r o m o t i n g rea d i n g, t h e
N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y B o a r d ( N L B ) a l s o p r o v i d e s r e f e r e n c e s e r v i c es a n d p res erv es t h e
n a t i o n ’ s c u l t u r a l a n d l i t e r a r y h e r i t a g e , u n d e r t h e N a t i o n a l L i b ra ry a n d N a t i o n a l
Archives of Singapore.

Singapore is a small city state, high

urban density (over 5 million people)
in a space of 724.2 sq km (for
reference, New York City is 783.8 sq
km). NLB runs 26 public libraries, the
National Library and the National
Archives of the country, with over
1,000 staff. In a typical year, the
library system sees 26 million visits
and 32 million loans of physical
library materials. Many people use
libraries and they are often crowded,
making a pandemic situation highly
challenging.

D u r i n g t h e f i r s t p h a s e o f C o v i d -1 9
before Circuit Breaker (January to
April), NLB quickly organized itself
under the guidance of the national
steering committee. At the first
instance of COVID-19 January, NLB
placed its Business Continuity Plans
and Crisis Emergency Response on
standby.
National Library of Singapore
Source: Wikipedia
The NLB has 23.18 Million items with the National Library (NL) responsible for
3 . 9 8 m i l l i o n p h y s i c a l a n d d i g i t a l It e m s :

Websites Periodicals, Documents (e.g. ephemera)

Manuscripts (e.g. typescript) Maps
Books Newspapers
Audio (Music and Non-Music) Still images (e.g. photographs, posters,
Moving Images (e.g. video, etc.) postcards)

Pu b l i c L i b r a r y S e r v i c e s ( P L S ) h a v e 8 . 5 m i l l i o n o f p h y s i c a l i t em s s uc h a s b o o ks ,
magazines, newspapers, DVDs and audiobooks.

O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , t h e N a t i o n a l A r c h i v e s o f S i n g a p o r e ( N A S) c o n t a i n s 10 . 7 m i l l i o n
p h y s i c a l a n d d i g i t a l i t e m s s u c h a s g o v e r n m e n t r e c o r d s , a ud i o v i s ua l m a t eri a l s ,
o r a l h i s t o r y i n t e r v i e w s , p h o t o g r a p h s , p o s t e r s , s p e e c h e s a n d p res s rel ea s es ,
m a p s a n d b u i l d i n g p l a n s , s t r a i t s s e t t l e m e n t s r e c o r d s , a n d o v ers ea s a n d p ri v a t e
records.

Challenges
Disruption of onsite service
R a p i d r e s p o n s e t o m o v i n g o u r o n s i t e s e r v i c e s t o d i g i t a l s e r v i c es t o
minimize disruptions
Shift from physical visitorship to digital visitorship
S t a f f t o a c q u i r e t h e r e q u i r e d IT s k i l l s a n d f a m i l i a r i t y w i t h n e w s o ft wa re
S e t t i n g u p s a f e d i s t a n c i n g p r o t o c o l s / p r o c e d u r e s w h e n l i b ra ri es
reopened

F or t h e d i g i t a l a c c e s s t o n e w s p a p e r s , b o o k s a n d m a g a z i n e s , a n d i n t e r l i b r a r y
l o a n s, N L B w o r k e d o u t a n a g r e e m e n t w i t h S i n g a p o r e ’ s l ea d i n g m ed i a
organization, Singapore Press Holdings to provide free access to its stable of
d a i l y d i g i t a l n e w s p a p e r s a n d m a g a z i n e s f o r l i b r a r y p a t r o ns f r o m t h e c o m f o r t
o f t h e i r h o m e s . T h i s a r r a n g e m e n t w a s n o t a v a i l a b l e p r i o r t o t h e c i rc ui t b rea ker.
D u r i n g t h e c i r c u i t b r e a k e r p e r i o d , e N e w s p a p e r r e a d e r s h i p i n c rea s ed m ul t i p l e fo l d
( d a i l y a v e r a g e o f 2 9 , 0 0 0 v i e w s ) c o m p a r e d t o w h e n p a t r o n s v i s i t ed l i b ra ri es t o
r e a d p h y s i c a l n e w s p a p e r s . A l t h o u g h l i b r a r i e s w e r e c l o s ed a n d m o s t o f t h e
s e r v i c e s w e r e t e m p o r a r i l y s u s p e n d e d , l i b r a r i a n s c o n t i n ued t o res p o n d t o
r e f e r e n c e e n q u i r i e s r e c e i v e d v i a e m a i l . L i b r a r i a n s f o c us ed o n p ro v i d i n g
r e s o u r c e s t h a t w e r e a v a i l a b l e o n l i n e o r v i a N L B ’ s d i g i t a l r e so urc es . N L B ’ s m o b i l e
a p p w a s e n h a n c e d d u r i n g t h e c i r c u i t b r e a k e r , w h e r e m o r e t h a n 8 , 0 0 0 eB o o ks
w e r e u p l o a d e d w i t h u n l i m i t e d c h e c k o u t s . O r g a n i z a t i o n s w h o rel i ed o n i n t erl i b ra ry

Singapore 59
loans of NLB’s physical resources for
research during the circuit breaker
had their due dates extended to
support their research during this
period.
Going Digital meant new roles for
Library Staff. In the second phase
during the Circuit Breaker (Apr to
June), Singapore implemented its
version of a lockdown, more
accurately “circuit-breaker” where
libraries had to close. It was an
opportunity to push library services to
go digital. Going digital allowed us to
reach 1.2 million views/participants
online for 3 months. On one hand, this
is about ensuring access, keeping
people mentally healthy through
online access to learning but it was
also an opportunity to both promote
what NLB already has (eBooks, digital
content) and to create new digital
content. There was digital
storytelling (30 sessions with
200,485 views), bite-sized
workshops, talks by librarians,
active blogging by librarians to
introduce content, learning packages
(each learning package comprised of
a good mix of formats including
books, eBooks, online articles and
bite-sized videos & podcasts). The Get
Professional series focused on vital
skills to improve workplace
productivity and efficiency, especially
soft skills that are often overlooked.
Staff also did their part for the
community during library closure.
Frontline staff were redeployed as
safe distancing ambassadors to aid in
public education and assisted at call
centers of other government agencies
that needed help to handle public
inquiries arising from the pandemic.
NLB also addressed inequality of
access to information/technology. A
lot of work has been done in terms of
making access to info equitable as we
make programmes free, storytelling
available regularly etc. Special
attention is given in bridging the
digital divide among seniors through
programmes such as Digital Clinics
which provide one-on-one assistance
on how to make digital devices work
better for them. Avariety of online
programmes was also curated and
themed “Stay Home” to encourage
seniors to read, learn and play. NLB
was ready because the library has
established teams for library services
for different user segments in the last
few years. Content knowledge has
been developed and the library knows
i t s c u s t o m e r s ’ l e a r n i n g n e e d s . C O V ID -
19 just opened up a digital opportunity
to deliver learning packages and
engagement online.
Learning Packages and NL Blog were
launched. To encourage reading and
learning among people staying at
home, several learning packages were
rolled out on the NLB mobile app.
Each learning package comprises a
mix of books, eBooks, articles and
bite-sized videos and podcasts. These
packages revolved around themes
such as virus breakouts and
pandemics in the past 100 years,
working from home effectively, coping
with isolation and new hobbies to
explore. This was also in line with
NLB’s role in promoting information
literacy by recommending reliable
Singapore 60
resources for the public when there collection.
has been much misinformation
regarding COVID-19. This is part of the library's efforts to
collect history as it happens, and to
Like many countries all over the learn how to collect digital materials.
world, Singapore effected a circuit More than 10,000 items have been
breaker, which saw the closure of collected to date. This initiative is
most workplaces, schools and ongoing until 31 December 2020.
businesses for 2 months. NLB kicked
off a nationwide initiative in For the Third Phase and safe
partnership with the National Museum reopening, principles for safe
of Singapore in May to collect management stay the same – only
materials such as websites, that the library is reopening
photographs and ephemera that cautiously, phasing the opening
capture the impact of COVID-19 on according to guidance from the
the daily lives of residents that government. The library is taking a
include their videos, audio recordings, cautious approach – limiting numbers,
photographs, flyers, posters, journals, enforcing a time limit and phasing in
diaries and social media postings. NLB programmes slowly. At the same time,
publicized the initiative on some of these digital programmes are
mainstream media and social media continued and the library has been
and reached out to organizations encouraging more independent self-
representing the various sectors in services, such as making more
society impacted by the pandemic, eBooks and eNewspapers available,
such as hospitality, aviation, migrant and installing a book dispenser
workers, healthcare, in order to machine. The library is also planning
capture the diversity of voices in the to try out a children’s book delivery
service by the end of the year.

I n r e l a t i o n t o b u i l d i n g a c u l t u r a l r e p o s i t o r y o f t h e S i n g a p o re C O V ID- 19
experience, as it has been an extraordinary year, NLB as a cultural
i n s t i t u t i o n o f m e m o r y a n d h i s t o r y , i s a l s o e n c o u r a g i n g c i t i zen s t o
document their journey, so that next generations will know how the nation
faced the pandemic together.

T h e L i b r a r i e s a n d A r c h i v e s P l a n 2 0 2 1 – 2 0 2 5 i s t h e m a st erp l a n fo r t h e
n e x t f i v e y e a r s t o e n s u r e s t r a t e g i e s , p r o d u c t s a n d s e r v i c e o fferi n gs b et t er
s e r v e t h e f u t u r e n e e d s o f S i n g a p o r e a n s . T h e d e v e l o p m en t o f L AB 2 5
s t a r t e d b e f o r e C O V I D - 1 9 . T h e t e m p o r a r y c l o s u r e o f l i b r a r i e s a n d a rc h i v es
w a s a n o p p o r t u n i t y f o r e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n a n d t o p i l o t p r e l i m i n a ry i d ea s , a n d
t h e w a r m p u b l i c r e s p o n s e w a s e n c o u r a g i n g t o t h e l i b ra ry ' s m a n y
initiatives.

National Library of Singapore

Source: GovInsider
 This affirmed the strategy of four “Beyonds” – Beyond Reading to
L e a r n i n g , B e y o n d B o o k s t o P r o g r a m m e s , B e y o n d C o l l e c t i ng t o
Engaging, and Beyond Physical to Omni-channel. Libraries and archives
c a n b e a p l a t f o r m b u s i n e s s , w e l l b e f o r e t h i s c o n c e p t b e c a m e fa s h i o n a b l e.
N L B o p e r a t e s a w i d e - r e a c h i n g a n d i n c l u s i v e p l a t f o r m t h a t s up p o rt s p eo p l e
i n t h e i r d i f f e r e n t p u r s u i t s , w h i c h r a n g e f r o m d o i n g r e s e a r c h a n d wo rki n g
o n p r o j e c t s t o s t u d y i n g f o r e x a m i n a t i o n s . T h e r e i s n o w a n e ed t o p i v o t t h e
b u s i n e s s o n h o w t h e s e r v i c e s c a n c o n t i n u e t o h e l p Si n ga p o re a n d
Singaporeans in the new normal.

H o w c a n t h e l i b r a r y a d d r e s s s o m e o f t h e t h r e a t s t o s o c i e t y a n d t a k e s om e of t h e
opportunities that the changed world offers?

There is a need for libraries to emerge There are opportunities for rebuilding
as the Equalizer to help the have nots society with the help of the citizenry –
level up to the haves. Further collecting national assets for a
exacerbated nativism and polarization s t r o n g e r s e n s e o f i d e n t i t y. W i t h t h e
– how can libraries pull communities population getting used to a digital
together that might otherwise pull way of living and working, building a
apart. Fake News exacerbated – how national learning framework that has a
to elevate the SURE Campaign and strong digital element so that
reading movements to national opportunities for learning that could
movements to help people evaluate lead to better employment and
information and read widely across education could be made discoverable
sources. by all.

I n a n e r a o f t r a n s f o r m a t i o n a n d d i s r u p t i o n , l i b r a r i e s m u s t ext en d t h ei r ro l e t o
s u p p o r t t h e p u r s u i t o f l i f e l o n g l e a r n i n g , b y c u r a t i n g m a t eri a l s s uc h a s b o o ks ,
a r t i c l e s , v i d e o s a n d p o d c a s t s , a n d a l s o b y o r g a n i z i n g p r o g ra m m es t o i n t ro d uc e
n e w t e c h n o l o g i e s a n d f i e l d s o f s t u d y t h a t c a t e r t o w o r k i n g a d ul t s . T o m eet t h e
n e e d s o f a d u l t s , e s p e c i a l l y t h o s e w h o s e c a r e e r s h a v e b e e n i m p a c t ed b y C O V ID-
1 9 , N L B w i l l i n t r o d u c e b u s i n e s s a n d c a r e e r s e r v i c e s t h a t wi l l s up p o rt t h e
i n f o r m a t i o n n e e d s o f a s p i r i n g e n t r e p r e n e u r s a n d p e o p l e wh o a i m t o e x p a n d
t h e i r b u s i n e s s e s a n d w o r k e x p e r i e n c e s b e y o n d t h e s h o r e s o f Si n ga p o re.

B e y o n d c o l l e c t i n g a n d p r e s e r v i n g m a t e r i a l s , N L B w i l l i n v o l v e a n d en ga ge
m e m b e r s o f t h e p u b l i c t o c o l l e c t a n d p r e s e r v e t h e i r m e m o ri es t o get h er. N L B
d e v e l o p e d a f r a m e w o r k f o r c o n t e m p o r a r y c o l l e c t i n g i n t a n d em wi t h t h e
D o c u m e n t i n g C O V I D - 1 9 e x p e r i e n c e. N L B w i l l s t e p u p e f f o r t s t o b r i n g o u r
c o l l e c t i o n s o u t t o t h e p u b l i c i n a n e n g a g i n g a n d i n f o r m a t i v e m a n n er. T o d o t h i s ,
N L B w i l l h a r n e s s t e c h n o l o g i e s , a d o p t i n n o v a t i v e a p p r o a c h es a n d us e o ur
i m a g i n a t i o n t o c r e a t e m e a n i n g f u l e x p e r i e n c e s t o h e l p S i n ga p o rea n s a p p rec i a t e
our diverse history and inform our identity as a nation.
Singapore 62
"COVID-19 just
opened up a digital
opportunity for us
to deliver our
learning packages
and engagement
online."

- National Library
Board, Singapore
We were ready because we have also established teams
for library services for different user segments in the last
few years. They have developed content knowledge and
know our customers’ learning needs. Covid just opened
up a digital opportunity for us to deliver our learning
packages and engagement online

- Singapore's National Library Board

V a r i o u s d i g i t a l l i b r a r y s e r v ic e s a r e a v a i l a b l e a t N L B
Source: National Library Board
Libraries Beyond Covid-19: Status, challenges and
prospects

Thailand Visio n

Ngampen Yawong

Library Services

Before the pandemic, The National Library of Thailand served users to access
i n f o r m a t i o n a n d w e s e r v e d e q u a l l y f o r a l l . O u r l i b r a r y i n c l ud es n ews p a p ers a n d
periodicals, general books, children and juvenile books. Books about Thailand,
i n t e r n a t i o n a l b o o k s c o l l e c t i o n , t h e s i s a n d r e s e a r c h , l a w b o o ks , m a n us c ri p t s a n d
i n s c r i p t i o n s , m a n u s c r i p t c a b i n e t s , a u d i o v i s u a l m a t e r i a l s , i n t ern a t i o n a l s t a n d a rd
b o o k s n u m b e r s , i n t e r n a t i o n a l s t a n d a r d s e r i a l n u m b e r , c o m p ut er, wi fi a n d
Internet, mini theater, and meeting room.

T h e r e i s a l s o a s m a l l l i b r a r y . T h i s i s a c o n c e p t o f b o o k l e s s l i b ra ry fun c t i o n wh i c h
i s f o c u s e d o n o n l i n e r e a d i n g t e c h n o l o g y b y a c c e s s t o d i g i t a l l i b ra ry res o urc es
v i a s m a r t p h o n e o r t a b l e t a n d i s a c o -w o r k i n g s p a c e .

T h e N L T i s o p e n e v e r y d a y e x c e p t n a t i o n a l h o l i d a y s , M o n d a y t o Fri d a y a t 9 a m t o
6 : 3 0 p m a n d S a t u r d a y a n d S u n d a y a t 9 a m t o 5 p m . T h e S m a rt L i b ra ry i s o p en
e v e r y d a y , M o n d a y t o F r i d a y f r o m 7 : 3 0 a m t o 8 : 3 0 p m a n d S a t urd a y a n d Sun d a y
from 12:30pm to 8:30pm.

D u r i n g t h e p a n d e m i c t h e d e p a r t m e n t h a s a n n o u n c e d t h e c l o s ure o f t h e N a t i o n a l
M u s e u m , N a t u r a l P a r k , N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y , a n d N a t i o n a l A r c h i v e t o c o n t ro l t h e
spread of COVID-19. Work from home policies have been in place to maintain
social distance and to avoid crowded places.

National Library of Thailand

Source: Tourism Authority of Thailand
 Online Databases
The NLT’s D-Library provides full-text digital resources which has more than 14 collections
such as rare books, back-issue periodicals and newspapers, and ancient manuscripts. The
digital resources are available over 17,000 items online at the National Library of Thailand
website.

E-Magazines and E-Newspapers

We provide the online or electronics magazines and newspapers which are available in
more than 100 countries, 60 languages and over 7,000 subscriptions. The NLT also
provides full-text of e-Books collection of over 12,000 items.

NLT Library and NLT Video on Demand

Application softwares for the National Library of Thailand. They contain a digital collection
of more than 1,500 of e-Books in various subjects, and provide the video which are
produced by the Fine Arts Department, respectively. It includes over 550 videos of
conferences, seminars and other events of the National Library of Thailand.

Learning English and Coding

For platforms for learning English and Coding, there are 4 learning English platforms and 2
learning coding platforms.

T h e p a n d e m i c p r o v i d e d e x c e l l e n t o p p o r t u n i t y t o c r e a t e n ew c o n t en t o n s o c i a l
m e d i a p l a t f o r m s . N L T h a s p r o g r a m s t h a t e n c o u r a g e a n d p ro m o t e o n l i n e rea d i n g
a t h o m e v i a s o c i a l m e d i a ( F a c e b o o k , T w i t t e r , In s t a g r a m ) . U s ers c a n a c c ep t a Q R
c o d e . R e a d a B o o k E v e r y d a y w i t h t h e m a i n p o i n t o f a b o o k. W i t h p o d c a s t s we
r e a d a b o o k a n d p o s t e d o n Y o u T u b e a n d S p o t i f y . W e p o s t p o n ed o r c h a n ged t h e
p r o j e c t s , a c t i v i t i e s , s e m i n a r s , t r a i n i n g t o l i v e o n l i n e f o r m a t a n d fo r exh i b i t i o n s
we adapted to live performance.

I n O c t o b e r 2 0 2 1 , t h e N L T o f f i c i a l l y o p e n e d f o r s e r v i c e . W e h a d p rev en t i o n
m e a s u r e s t o p r e v e n t s p r e a d o f C O V ID -1 9 .

Users have their temperatures Closing from 12pm-1 pm and 3pm

checked before entering the -4pm for disinfection everyday
library. Sitting only at specific areas and
Q R c o d e r e g i s t r a t i o n f o r c h e c k -i n keeping physical distancing of 2m
and check-out No food or drink in the library
Wearing of face masks All the books must be cleaned
Washing hands or using hand before being returned to the
sanitizer shelves
Thailand 67
 F i n a l l y t h e C O V I D - 1 9 p a n d e m i c i s a n u n p r e c e d e n t e d c h a l l en ge wi t h i m m ed i a t e
i m p a c t o n t h e l i b r a r y a n d e v e r y o n e . L e a d e r s h a v e t o r ec o gn i ze t h e v a l ue o f
d i g i t a l l i b r a r y , o n l i n e d a t a b a s e o r e -r e s o u r c e s w h i c h wi l l i n fl uen c e b ud get
c o n s i d e r a t i o n s i n t h e c o m i n g y e a r s . L i b r a r i a n s h a v e t o a d j us t t o t h e
u n p r e c e d e n t e d c r i s i s . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d s e r v i c e s h a v e t o b e re- d es i gn ed d uri n g
t h e C O V I D - 1 9 p h a s e a n d m a y b e r e -o r i e n t e d w i t h n e w p o l i c i es , wo rki n g m et h o d s ,
r e v i s e d b u d g e t s , a n d d i f f e r e n t p o s t u r e s i n l i b r a r y g o v e r n a n c e.

“National Li brary of Thai l and: Treasure of Wi sdom”

National Library of Chiang Mai

Wannapa Pawino

The library was constructed in the Northern Thai architectural style on August 31,
1989. It is a two-storey building. It has a total area of 3,300 sqm. The library is part
of the 7th Regional Office of the Fine Arts Department of Chiang Mai under the
Ministry of Culture. The aim of setting up this library is to be a center for collecting
regional ancient books and documents.

Ratchamangkhalaphisek National Library of Chiang Mai

Source: CMHY

O r g a n i z a t i o n a l c h a r t o f t h e l i b r a r y a n d a d m i n i s t r a t i v e s t r uc t ure c o n s i s t s o f 1 2
staff.

The amount of information resources in the library is 127,378 items. Breakdown

o f i n f o r m a t i o n r e s o u r c e : 1 1 3 , 4 8 2 p r i n t , 8 , 1 1 7 a u d i o v i s ua l , 4 , 3 15 a n c i en t
manuscripts, 866 ebooks, and 593 artifacts.

It has the responsibility of 14

provinces:
Phayao
Chiang Mai Tak
Chiang Rai Phitsanulok
Lamphun Sukhothai
Lampang Kampaeng Petch
Mae Hong Son Pichit
Phrae Uttaradit Library facade
Nan Source: Mapsus. net
Library Services
Library information resource services include:
Northern Thai Book section
Ancient Language section
Northern Art and Culture collection
Children’s and Youth section
Periodicals and Newspapers section
General Books Section 1 and 2

The library also offered book service for the visually impaired and Internet service for
searching information, news and knowledge, and reference service. It also provided consulting,
advice and training in the field of library science and information science for library personnel
and regional agencies. A rotating exhibition service was also put up together with a meeting
room service.

During the pandemic guidelines were implemented for accessing library services. The library
adjusted the operation plan and managed it according to COVID-19 protection policy, for example,
wearing masks every time while inside the library. Guidelines were implemented for preparing
library areas and preventing disease such as arranging the chairs to have a distance of at least 1
or 2 meters between users. The guidelines for providing library services in the new normal
included promotion of library services through online system such as Facebook, website and
Instagram. Dissemination of information to users about services was also done for awareness of
the importance of preventing the spread of COVID-19. QR codes were also used for book
recommendations by librarians, with ancient manuscripts recommendation, to connect to wifi, for
public relation articles, and for public relations library news.

Challenges Library and librarians have to use other skills

to develop use of new technology in servicing
COVID-19 has affected library service,
the library user in every situation.
following government
announcements on temporary
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the crisis has
shutdown. The culture of the library is
affected the library services all over the
one of the biggest challenges.
country. This effect causes the library and the
librarian as well to start to adapt and develop
The challenges consist of:
new ways of service. Library needs
Library role development
cooperation among the community,
Librarians development
management, library network and users.
Information resources
development
Developing of service
Reading activity development
Information technology
development for library work

Thailand 69
 Vietnam
Libraries Beyond Covid-19: Status, challenges and
prospects
Bui Thi Thuy
The National Library of Vietnam was established on 29th November 1917 and
o p e n e d t o t h e p u b l i c o n 1 s t S e p t e m b e r 1 9 1 9 . T h e o r i g i n a l n a m e wa s C en t ra l
P u b l i c L i b r a r y o f I n d o c h i n a , u n d e r t h e S e r v i c e o f A r c h i v e a n d L i b ra ry o f
I n d o c h i n a . N o w , t h e N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y o f V i e t n a m , t h e c o u n t ry ’ s c en t ra l l i b ra ry , a
g o v e r n m e n t a l a g e n c y u n d e r t h e m a n a g e m e n t o f t h e M i n i s t ry o f C ul t ure, Sp o rt s
a n d T o u r i s m f u n c t i o n s f o r c o l l e c t i o n & p r e s e r v a t i o n o f t h e n a t i o n ’ s d o c um en t a ry
h e r i t a g e ; a c q u i s i t i o n , o r g a n i z a t i o n & p r o v i s i o n o f i n f o rm a t i o n res o urc es ;
c o m p i l i n g a n d p u b l i s h i n g N a t i o n a l B i b l i o g r a p h y & t h e G e n e ra l B i b l i o gra p h y o f V N .
c o n d u c t i n g s c i e n t i f i c & t e c h n o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h p r o j e c t s i n t h e l i b ra ry - i n fo rm a t i o n
f i e l d ; o r g a n i z i n g p r o f e s s i o n a l l y f u r t h e r t r a i n i n g c o u r s e s & p ro v i d i n g p ro fes s i o n a l
g u i d a n c e t o l i b r a r i a n s t h r o u g h o u t t h e c o u n t r y , c o o p e r a t i n g wi t h d o m es t i c a n d
f o r e i g n l i b r a r i e s i n t h e f i e l d o f l i b r a r y a n d i n f o r m a t i o n s c i e n c es .

The organizational structure

includes a Directorial Board, a
Scientific Council and 9
Divisions: Legal Deposit,
Acquisition and Exchange,
Cataloging, Information
Technology, Preservation,
Reading Services, Reference,
Science Research and Profession
Guidance, and General
Administration.

1 Director
2 Deputy Directors
9 Division Heads
14 Vice Division Heads
160-180 staff (70% female)
20% Master degree
70% Bachelor degree
Khue Van Cac 16% senior librarian
Source: National Library of Vitenam
 T h e l i b r a r y s e r v i c es : Note:
Vietnamese with valid
The library opens 7 days a week, from
identification
8am to 8pm and is closed 1 day each
Foreigners working in
month for internal service. Service
Vietnam with valid method is reading on the premises by
passports self-selected service and upon
Vietnamese & foreign request service. It hasn’t provided a
children staying in Vietnam lending service yet because of limited
between 3–13 years old copies.

NLV has 11 reading rooms, issues 20,000 Befor e COVI D-19 pandemi c, the readi ng
membership cards per year, serves over ser vi ces focused on servi ces at the l i br ar y
9,000 users at library and website everyday. pr emi se, mul ti medi a servi ce and i nter net
access, photocopy/scanni ng. Other ser vi ces
The 11 reading rooms:
i ncl ude:
Tar geted i nfor mati on searchi ng, press
Refer ence Room Readi ng r oom for
cl i ppi ng
Gener al Readi ng Resear cher s &
Compi l e subj ect bi bl i ographi es, l o cal
Room Entr epr eneur s
hi stor y bi bl i ographi es, sel ected
Soci al Sci ences & Newspaper & Per i odi cal
bi bl i ogr aphi es
Humani ti es Readi ng Readi ng Room
Or gani ze & co-organi ze exhi bi ti on o f
Room Mul ti medi a Room
books/pai nti ngs/photos/arti facts, author -
Natur al & Appl i ed S-hub Shar i ng Space
wor k exchange
Sci ences Readi ng Chi l dr en’ s Cul tur al Li brary
Or gani ze & co-organi ze conferences,
Room Li br ar y Document Readi ng
wor kshops, pr ofessi onal trai ni ng for
Mul ti l i ngual Room
l i br ar i ans over the countr y
Readi ng Room
Consul t, suppor t l i brary’s organi zati on,
catal ogi ng data and servi ces of
pr eser vati on & r estorati on, create CI P
data for publ i sher s
Compose Nati onal Bi bl i ography, subject
headi ng, Keywor ds, professi onal gui dance
for l i br ar i es nati onwi de

Dur i ng the pandemi c NLV worked o n

promoti ng exi sti ng digital/online servi c es
and enhanci ng digital collections. NLV
cooper ated wi th the Nati onal Li brar y o f
Fr ance ( NLF) to l aunch the French-
Vi etnamese Portal i n earl y 2021 to i ntr oduce
over 2,000 typi cal documents of the two
nati onal l i br ar i es wi th partners tal ki ng abo ut
cul tur e, hi stor i cal & sci enti fi c i nteracti o ns
between Fr ance & Vi etnam from the 17th
centur y to the mi ddl e 20th century. NLV al so
cooper ated wi th The Asi a Foundati on to bui l d
Vi etnamese content on Let’ s Read Asi a
Di gi tal Li brary for chi l dr en. Thi s i s a di gi tal
l i br ar y for chi l dr en i n Asi a wi th over 7, 000
ti tl es i n mor e than 33 l anguages i ncl udi ng
Vi etnamese.

French-Vietnamese Portal "Hoa

Phuong Vi Library
Source: Accueil Vietnamien

Vietnam 72
The Second gr oup of acti vi ti es that wer e do ne
i ncl ude or gani zi ng and co-organi zi ng many
acti vi ti es, events, exhi bi ti ons and boo k f esti val s
vi r tual l y dr awi ng great attenti on of the l i br ar y
user s and publ i c, Onl ine Book Exhi bi ti ons, Onl i ne
Nati onal Book Festi val s 2020, 2021, Read Me a
Book Campai gn and Book donati on to l i br ar i es i n
r emote ar eas. One onl i ne book exhi bi ti o n i s o n
cel ebr ati ng the 130th bi rthday anniver sar y o f
Pr esi dent Ho Chi Mi nh. Another onl i ne exhi bi ti o n i s
Cel ebr ati ng the 75th Anni versary of the Nati o nal
Day of the Soci al i st Republ i c of Vi etnam. Dur i ng
COVI D-19 ti me the goal s are to mai ntai n al l the
Challenges
Challenges include the rapid progression of
COVID-19 & state of uncertainty making it
difficult to plan and implement on time; IT
infrastructure & platforms in supporting online
services & remote working of staff; digital
literacy skills of librarians and users; adapting to
the changing environment of staff & users; and
reduction of library budget contribute in making
it difficult to expand technology-based services.
Monograph Collections
2.6 million items
680,000 items (~1,580,000 copies) in
Vietnamese & about VN
37,000 Doctoral Thesis
5,280 Han-Nom manuscript items
68,500 Indochina items (1,700 newspaper-
magazine titles)
3,996 items published in the period of
resistance 1946-1954
500,000 items of foreign languages
•9,000 titles of Vietnamese & foreign
newspapers, magazines
10,000 book titles published in Viet Nam
before 1954.
Online Databases
ProQuest, Wilson, e-books of Igroup Publishing and SpringerNature, SAGE Journal, Sage Research
Method, Vietnamese law, French law, Traditional Theatre Opera
Online Digital Collections: Monthly/annual National Directory, French – Vietnamese Portal, training
materials of SIDA Foundation, the ISO file of monthly directory data of NLV
Microform materials: 10,000 books (microfilm) published before 1954 in Viet Nam, those were the
present from National Library of France.
4,300 microfilm rolls taken by NLV
l i br ar y ser vi ces, control the spread of the vi r us
and bui l d a pl an of acti on for the worse si tuati o n.
NLV has acti vel y propagated di sease pr eventi o n,
mai ntai ned al l the l i brary acti vi ti es and ser vi ces
wi th the l i mi tati on of parti ci pants and di vi ded the
bi g event i nto smal l topi c groups.
COVI D-19 pandemi c i s a gl obal cri si s, and pr esents
i n i tsel f a gr eat opportuni ty for the l i br ar y to
change. Thi s i s a dri vi ng force that opens up paths
and steps for devel opment. Ther e is an
oppor tuni ty for l i br ari es to connect, cooper ate and
shar e exper ti se and experi ences to fi nd o ut the
sui tabl e or i entati ons and effecti ve perfor mance.
I t i s expected to stri ctl y fol l ow medi cal i nstr ucti o n
to ensur e safety of staff and users. In addi ti o n, i t
i s i mpor tant to work together to enhance o nl i ne
ser vi ces i n par al l el wi th onsi te servi ces, o pen
di r ect onl i ne communi cati on channel s, so ci al
networ ks to support l i brary users, and str engthen
l endi ng acti vi ti es and create sel f-servi ce ki o sks
outsi de the l i br ar y to faci l i tate users’ access to the
l i br ar y col l ecti ons. The l i brary websi te can be
i mpr oved and upgraded to become the l i br ar y's
por tal to suppor t access to the di gi tal l i br ar y
r emotel y or onl i ne effecti vel y and pr epar e the
r eadi ness of al l staff to face and adapt to the
cr i si s.
Digitized Collections
112,000 items (~ 8 million pages)
Doctoral Thesis: 25,502 items (~ 6,2 million
pages) http://luanan.nlv.gov.vn/
Sino-Nom: 1,952 items (~147.955 pages)
http://hannom.nlv.gov.vn/
Indochina books (including microforms):
8,000 items (~1,1 million pages),
http://sach.nlv.gov.vn
Indochina periodicals and newspapers,
magazines: 72,000 issues (~430,000 pages),
http://baochi.nlv.gov.vn
English books about Viet Nam: 338 items
(~92,520 pages)
CD/DVD collection: 3,800 items.
 Mobile library at Bac Lieu
Source: Bac Lieu province library

Public Libraries in Vietnam

Hoang Thi Thu Trang

T h e p u b l i c l i b r a r y s y s t e m ( o r n e t w o r k ) i n V i e t n a m i s d i v i d e d i n t o 3 l ev el s :

City/Provincial-level Library

Communal-level Library District-level Library

(Communities (Urban
library/community learning district/town/suburban
centre) district)

P r o v i n c i a l - l e vel libra ries

are public non-business units under
the Department of Culture, Sports D i s t r i c t L i b r a r ies
and Tourism or the Department of perform the functions and tasks of
Culture and Sports. Provincial-level the public library system. Some
libraries have legal status, major tasks are: receiving
independent seal (stamp) and bank documents and library facilities
account in accordance with law. from the provincial library;
Provincial-level libraries have the circulating documents to local
function of: building, processing, libraries; organizing activities to
storing, preserving, connecting, serve the lifelong learning needs of
organizing and using of information people in the locality; performing
resources in accordance with the other tasks assigned by competent
local characteristics and state agencies. Distric libraries
requirements for socio-economic develop reading culture and
construction and development; contribute to create a lifelong
disseminating information learning environment for the
resources for local socio-economic people, build a learning society,
development; supporting, guiding improve people' s intellectual level,
and equipping library users, and build a comprehensive
district/commune library with skills Vietnamese people.
in searching, exploiting and using
information; organizing reading
areas for children and people with
disabilities;
Vietnam 74
 C o m m u n e L i b ra ries

These libraries perform the functions of the functions and tasks of the public
library system such as: Receive information resources and library utilities
from provincial libraries, district libraries and other legal sources; Rotating
library resources to grassroots, local bookcase libraries, school or private
libraries and serve the community in the locality; Participate in building
reading culture, forming reading habits for the people and perform other tasks
assigned by competent state agencies. Commune libraries play the function of
an extension arm of the public library network to the grassroots level, bring
library activities and information and knowledge to all people.

A s f o r t h e n u m b e r o f p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s i n V i e t n a m , t h e r e a re 63 C i t y / P ro v i n c i a l ,
6 6 7 D i s t r i c t , 3 , 2 9 0 C o m m u n e a n d 1 4 , 9 3 4 G r a s s r o o t s R e a d i n g ro o m s .

Titles of Copies of News &

Category Electronic # of Users
Book Title Magazine

City/Provincial 4,967,249 17,115,260 9,943 2,206,064 33,575,811

District 2,410,987 13,106,571 5,303 24,577 9,492,366

Communal - 7,400,000 - - -

S o u r c e : N i ê n g i á m t h ố n g k ê n g à n h V ă n h o á , T h ể t h a o v à Du l ị c h = St a t i s t i c a l
y e a r b o o k 2 0 1 9 o f C u l t u r a l , S p o r t a n d T o u r i s i m / M i n i s t e r o f C ul t ura l , Sp o rt a n d
Tourisim. – H. Van hoa dan toc, 2020.

Library Services
Services at the public libraries are of two types, services at the library campus
a n d o u t d o o r a n d n e t w o r k s e r v i c e s.

Service at the library campus:

Reading service inside the library
Searching, consulting document
Wi-fi, Internet connecting
Accessing electronic documents
Lending books
Children reading service
Propaganda information: book
introduction, book workshop
Photocopy, scan document in
demand
Children's reading
Service for people with disabilities
Source: Nam Định provice library
S e r v i c e f o r t h e l o c a l p u b l i c l i b r a r y o u t d o o r a n d n e t w o r k su c h as:
P r o fe s s i o n a l g u i d a n c e f r o m p r o v i n c i a l l i b r a r i e s t o d i s t r i c t l i b r a r i es
Organize professional training courses for librarians
C o o r d i n a te a c t i v i t i e s , e x c h a n g e / r o t a t i o n ( a l t e r n a t i v e d o c u m e n t ) d o c um en t s
with libraries which establish by local agencies and organizations
A s s i s t f r o m p r o v i n c e l i b r a r y t o d i s t r i c t l i b r a r y , f r o m d i s t ri c t l i b ra ry t o
c o m m u n e , g r a s s r o o t s o r l o c a l b o o k c a s e s l i b r a r y o r o t h er l i b ra ry s uc h a s
s c h o o l l i b r a r y , c o m m u n e c u l t u r a l p o s t o f f i c e , l o c a l p r i s o n l i b ra ry
O r g a n i z e a m o b i l e l i b r a r y t o s e r v e t h e p e o p l e i n t h e l o c a l i t y , c o o rd i n a t e wi t h
d i s t r i c t u n i t s s e r v i n g a t s c h o o l , i n e x p o r t p r o c e s s i n g z o n es , i n d us t ri a l p a rks
and prisons
O r g a n i z i n g m o v e m e n t a c t i v i t i e s t o s t r e n g t h e n , e n c o u r a g e a n d c rea t e rea d i n g
h a b i t s f o r c h i l d r e n a n d y o u n g p e o p l e s u c h a s t h e B o o k fes t i v a l , t h e W o rl d
b o o k d a y , V i e t n a m e s e B o o k a n d r e a d i n g c u l t u r e d a y , c h i l d r en ’ s d a y

T h e p u b l i c l i b r a r y s e r v i c e s d u r i n g t h e p a n d e m i c c h a n g e d . Fi rs t l y , c h a n gi n g t h e
indoor services to remove and delivery services such as:
R e c e i v i n g b o o k l o a n v i a e m a i l a n d s e n d i n g b o o k s t o r e a d e r s a t h o m es
A l l o w u s e r s t o b o r r o w m o r e b o o k s a n d f o r a l o n g e r t i m e t h a n n o rm a l , ren ew
(extend book loan) online.
O r g a n i z e b o o k c a s e s i n t h e q u a r a n t i n e z o n e , B o o k s f r o m t h e p ub l i c l i b ra ry wi l l
rotate to the bookcases, instant library in special places.
Special program such as Book gift program

S e c o n d l y , p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s p r o v i d e i n f o r m a t i o n a n d c o n s u l t i n g o n l i n e t h ro ugh
running Digital libraries. Public libraries also advise readers to use the online
l i b r a r y , p r o v i d e g u i d a n c e o n m e t h o d s a n d s k i l l s o f s e a r c h i n g a n d us i n g o n l i n e
i n f o r m a t i o n , i m p r o v i n g r e a d e r s ' a b i l i t y t o s e a r c h a n d e x p l o i t i n fo rm a t i o n . In s t a n t
c o n s u l t a n t s e r v i c e o n l i n e . U s i n g t h e s o c i a l a p p o r s o f t w a re t o c o m m un i c a t e,
c o n n e c t a n d s h a r e s u c h a s T a w k . t o , M e s s e n g e r , a n d Z a l o t o us ers .

Thirdly, public libraries have been promoting remote reading activities on

Y o u T u b e c h a n n e l w h i c h i n t r o d u c e b o o k s a s w e l l a s d i g i t a l s t o ry t el l i n g v i d eo .
E n h a n c e i n f o r m a t i o n p r o p a g a n d a v i a w e b s i t e s a n d s o c i a l c h a n n el s ; o rga n i ze
o n l i n e p l a y g r o u n d c o n t e s t s ( w h i c h n o r m a l l y w i l l b e h e l d d i rec t l y i n s uc h b i g
e v e n t s ) s u c h a s d r a w i n g c o n t e s t s , m a k i n g b o o k i n t r o d u c t i o n v i d eo c o n t es t s .

S.hub reading room

Source: National Library of Vietnam
Challenges

L o w e r i n f r a s t r u c t u r e a n d p l a t f o r m s t o s u p p o r t o n l i n e s e rv i c e a n d rem o t e
working staff for almost all public libraries.
Various types of users that demand flexible service.
F i n a n c i a l c h a l l e n g e s l i k e l i m i t e d b u d g e t o f t h e l i b r a r y i s n o w furt h er red uc ed
d u e t o t h e C o v i d - 1 9 p a n d e m i c , m a k i n g i t m o r e d i f f i c u l t t o p ro v i d e t ec h n o l o gy -
based library services.

The recommendation is to continue

following medical instruction and
support the community to always
exercise awareness of the
pandemic. Strong connection in
public libraries system allow for
change of the commune/grassroots,
bookcases as the self-service
kiosks for lending activities and
library other activities in small
groups. Libraries must also
continue to improve and upgrade
the library website, library digital
portal to connect and create the
library activities for studying and
play ground as well as support
access to digital documents.

COVID-19 pandemic created so

much difficulty for the public library
system. In this difficult situation,
public libraries still raise many good
activities and services to support
the communities. It also shows that
librarians have to be more creative
and need to connect and share. Children's culture library
Source: National Library of Vietnam

Vietnam 77
 Prior to the pandemic, most national and public
libraries within the ASEAN region were able to
cater to the needs of their citizens on a business-
as-usual basis. Except for some whose funding
and budget were limited, services were relatively
rendered with ease. Common library services
available across the ASEAN network include
reading, circulation, information and services
available through digital and mobile. Reading
services cater to reading to children
and dedicating rooms or having reading corners within the library to
accommodate reading sessions. Storytelling activities are popular as well,
with some incorporating puppetry such as in the case of National Library of
the Philippines. The objective is to make reading an accessible service,
especially to children in the region. Case in point here is the famous boat
library in Laos where the reading experience is brought to the children
through a boat in Luang Prubang.
Service accessibility is becoming increasingly important in delivering library
services to the ASEAN citizen and remains to be aligned to the International
Federation of Library Association's core values as shared by its President
Barbara Lison as "IFLA believes that people, communities and organizations
need universal and equitable access to

Synthesis
information, ideas and works of
imagination for their social, educational
cultural, democractic and economic well-
being." Several libraries in the region already
provide accessibility to the many segments in
the society, including services catering to
persons with disabilities (PwDs). Accessibility is
given importance in this case by Brunei’s Dewan
Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) Library and
Vietnam’s public library where they make this
service accessible.

This is essentially an increasing service offering

aspect in order to maintain the equitableness to
the access of information.

Synthesis 78
Library services delivery depend largely on
available funding which is usually provided or
budgeting by the governing agency or authority.
In terms of jurisdiction and administration, most
libraries are under government agencies
involved in the arts, culture, information, science
and technology and innovation. For Philippines
and Indonesia, libraries are put under the Office
of the President. However, in the case of the
Philippines, there is an acknowledged in-country
challenge given the confusion brought about by
the Local Government Code of 1991. This
confusion contributes to the challenges in
providing consistent library services across the
country.

Most of public libraries are affiliated with National

Library of the Philippines which is under the
Office of the President; while others are in the
LGU jurisdiction, making the roll out of services
inconsistent as it varies based on geography and
affiliation.

Malaysia has challenges in terms of their

copyright law as governed by the
Copyright Act 1987. Under the Act, the
copyright automatically exists upon the
creation of work which does not need any
formal registration. This poses as a major
challenge given the massive use of
internet at this point in time and issues on
piracy and rights infringement.

Synthesis 79
The disruption brought about by Covid-19 affected the
delivery of library services in the region. Most ASEAN
countries had to resort to delivering online what they can
based on the infrastructure and resources they have.
Some may be digitally set up when the pandemic
happened and so it was not difficult to transition to online,
however, some countries are still facing challenges in
terms of infrastructure and hence could only rely to simple
digital services using smartphones and social media
platforms.

Effectively, it is during the pandemic that both public and

national libraries resorted to conducting activities online.
Traditional reading sessions are now converted to digital
reading sessions supported by online platforms such as
Zoom and Facebook; phone calls and text messaging also
replaced physical interaction in lieu of the varying
lockdown and quarantine periods affecting ASEAN
countries in the process.

Synthesis 80
Boat Library
Luang Prabang, Laos

REFRAMING
LIBRARY
SERVICES
National Library
Yangon, Myanmar
The COVID-19 outbreak imposed sudden library closures
and brought about the need for the library sectors to find
suitable ways to operate.
Emma Rey, President of Philippine Li brari ans
Association, Inc., stressed on the importance of
reframing. In her words, "to reframe is to
reformulate your goals, realign your targets, and
redefine outcomes. What library services are there
to reframe or to replan? This may require us to
look at the past, assess the present in order to
judge the future."
Amid the new social norms of social distanci ng, the
libraries’ role had to be transformed i n a
completely new operational model. This is where
digital transformation plays a critical rol e i n
reshaping how libraries operate and provi de
services to its stakeholders, patrons and members
of the public.
Digital transformation is the accel erati on of
business activities, processes, competenci es, and
models to fully leverage the changes and
opportunities of digital technologies and thei r
impact in a strategic and prioritized way. Li brari es
need to pursue digi tal transformation ini ti ati ves i n
order to adapt to the new normal.
The key questions that need to be answered are:
Which in-person services can be successful l y
transferred into the digital space?
How exactly to do this?
How to optimize the use of digital resources
which already exist?
What new digital resources are needed thi s
time?
How to develop resources which support the
stakeholders, patrons and members of the
public best – rather than overwhelm them i n a
world where they are anyway spending pl enty
of their time online?
How can existing resources be optimi zed or
retooled?
Are there intervention programs that need to be
put in place in order to make the shift or pi vot
to digital relatively easy?
Library Services Framework 82
To understand how and what to transform in the context of digital transformation, bodies
of research have relevant information available that will guide libraries in their
transformation journey. Based on recent literature, one characteristic of digital
transformation is the use of innovation across the organization. Innovation refers to the
usage of novel ideas, products, services, processes that are new to the implementing
organization and create an advantage for the organization. Innovation also refers to the
organization's pursuit of improvement and growth through the development of
innovations.

Drawing from the ten types of innovation framework of Keeley et al., the Library
Innovation framework is proposed.

Network/ Service Customer

Funding Structure Process Channel Brand Engagement
Partners Performance

OPERATIONS SERVICES CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

PEOPLE AND CULTURE

Figure 1. Library Innovation Framework

The l i brary i nnovati on framework covers four key areas. These areas are (1) operations,
(2) services, (3) customer engagement and (4) people and culture.

Operati ons deal wi th i nternal processes, pol i ci es and other arrangements necessary to
create servi ces. Fundi ng i s an i mportant component under operati ons. Operati ons serve
as i nput i nto the servi ce creati on process.

Servi ces refer to the servi ce creati on and del i very. The overal l servi ces provi ded to
customers or members of the publ i c then become i nput i n customer engagement. The
channel s used and the brandi ng efforts both contri bute i n defi ni ng the customer
engagement experi ence.

The l i brary' s peopl e and cul ture are al so cri ti cal factors i n determi ni ng how i nnovati on
can be appl i ed i n the l i brary as these woul d al so address the need for i nterventi on
programs, i f any.

Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka Library

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Library Services Framework 83
 National Library in Bangkok, Thail and

The Library Innovation Framework covers all the aspects of library operations,
services, customer engagement, and people and culture. Digital transformation can
happen through innovations in some or most of the ten components of a library,
namely:

Funding model - how the library raises funds

Network – how libraries build connections to create value
Structure – the alignment of the library’s talents and resources to deliver greater
value
Process – the superior methods that the library uses
Service performance – the distinguishing features and functionality of the library’s
services
Channel – how offerings are delivered to customers and users
Brand –the representation of offerings and business
Customer engagement – the distinctive interactions the library fosters
People and culture – the ways of working and interacting inside the organization

The framework helps library administrators understand where innovation can happen,
and not limit to themselves to certain types of innovations. Several innovation tactics
can be explored for each of the ten components, to wit:
 Library Services Framework 85

Funding Model

Examples of funding model include government funding, private funding, crowdfunding,

membership, subscription, memorandum of understanding and collaboration.

In Singapore, the government funded a

project called the Singapore Memory Project.
This aims to collect the personal memories of
Did you
residents of Singapore and together with the
know?
documented history of Singapore, will give
Singaporeans a more rounded sense of
Singapore’s social history.

Source: http://library.ifla.org/268/1/201-choh-en.pdf
 Library Services Framework 86

Network

Examples of network include volunteer network, strategic partnership and alliances,

collaboration, open innovation, and regional agreements.

The National Library of Australia has an

Did you extensive volunteer program since 1989 to
know? and support and promote the work of the
Library.

https://www.nla.gov.au/content/onsite-volunteer-program-policy
 Library Services Framework 87

Structure

Examples of structure include virtual space, asset standardization, infrastructure, ,

decentralized management (run by community), digital clinics, and library space
rearrangement.

Oslo's Public Library uses space effectively

with its distinctive cantilevered top floor, and
channels natural light with its diagonal voids
Did you
and central atrium.
know?

They are also this year's IFLA's Public Library

of the Year.
Sources: https://lithub.com/these-are-the-worlds-5-best-most-innovative-new-public-libraries/
https://www.infodocket.com/2021/08/19/the-worlds-best-new-public-library-iflas-public-library-of-the-year-award-goes-to-
deichman-bjorvika-oslo-public-library-in-norway/
 Library Services Framework 88

Process

Examples of process include process standardization, localization, process efficiency,

process automation, intellectual property, user generated content and predictive analytics.

Copyright and numbering system

applications are available online at National
Library of the Philippines (NLP). A copyright
Did you provides for both economic and moral rights
know? over the literary and artistic works of the
owner. NLP assigns ISBN, ISSN, ISMN,
whether published in print, online or other
media.

Source: http://web.nlp.gov.ph/nlp/?q=node/646
 Library Services Framework 89

Service performance

Examples of service performance include ease of use, engaging functionality, feature

aggregation, personalized service, performance simplification, customization, self-service
and concierge.

Mobile Library Services provides access to

Brunei's DBP Library materials for residents
who cannot reach their libraries because of
Did you the distance, detention, school hours and
know? other reasons. Library staff members use
bookmobiles to visit various locations to
provide services to school children, inmates of
Jerudong Prison and to Al-Islah in Muara
Town.
Source: http://www.dewanbahasadanpustakalibrary.org/service.php
 Library Services Framework 90

Channel

Examples of channel include social media, non-traditional channels, indirect distribution, on-
demand, context specific, and experience center

The National Library of Indonesia (NLI)

subscribes to e-journal and e-books for the
Did you public and enables easy access to these
know? materials all over the country. The NLI
also developed 25 website templates for
libraries to use to provide services outside
libraries.

Source: http://library.ifla.org/268/1/201-choh-en.pdf
 Library Services Framework 91

Brand

Examples of brand include co-branding, brand leverage, brand extension, component

branding, transparency, values alignment and certification.

The Public Library Association, a division of

the American Library Association shares
marketing strategies on how libraries can
take advantage of readily available
Did you
capabilities to beef up its brand and services.
know?
One way is to turn blogs or newsletters into a
content marketing effort and take
advantage of social media platforms
especially for organic posts.

Source: https://www.ala.org/pla/resources/tools/public-relations-marketing/marketing-strategies
 Library Services Framework 92

Customer engagement

Examples of customer engagement include process automation, experience simplification,

curation, experience enabling, mastery, autonomy and authority, community and belonging,
personalization, status and recognition.

As the pandemic surged globally in 2020,

IFLA ensured that its network of global
Did you libraries are able to shift to provision of
know? remote or online services by shifting to
digital. One example is how the National
Library of Spain is promoting its digital
content that can be used to support
education.
Source: https://www.ifla.org/covid-19-and-the-global-library-field/
 Library Services Framework 93

People and culture

Examples of people and culture include employee crowdsourcing, job redesign, HR

automation, change management, new skills building, culture transformation, and employee
engagement.

Training programs for new skills building are

being provided for free by the City Library of
Did you Butuan in the Philippines as part of its efforts
know? to engage its people especially at this time of
pandemic. Some of the programs provided
are meant to develop skills in graphic design,
virtual work, etc.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/citylibrary.butuan/
Reframing Services
Service Performance

Library Services Roadmap

Physical Public Social Services Information Innovation Technological

Infrastructure Infrastructure Center Infrastructure Laboratory Infrastructure

The public library, the local gateway to knowledge, provides a

basic condition for lifelong, independent decision-making and
cultural development of the individual and society groups.

IFLA/UNESCO Public Manifesto, 1994

Innovating Service Performance

Innovation is a never ending process. In fact, as the saying goes, "change is the only permanent thing
in this world." The pandemic showed the world which ones can adapt and which ones have to go.
This is why it is imperative for libraries to continue transforming and innovating its services to
ensure that the services rendered remain relevant and consistent with the changing times. Library
services should be able to continuously address the needs of the people and the pandemic
effectively changed the way people consume information.

Physical infrastructure refers to the actual structure of the library and the services that can be
provided by such structure; public infrastructure is described as an extension of an existing service;
social services center includes provision of social services within the community; information
infrastructure address the need for continuous learning; innovation laboratory serves as a sandbox
of ideas and other new things that libraries may want to experiment on and finally technological
infrastructure aims to provide technology-based services.
 Libraries as Physical
Infrastructure

Events Place
Exhibition Space
Learning
Resource Centers
Culture Centers
Green Space

Source: Asia/Pacific Cultural

Centre for UNESCO (ACCU)
Library

Almost all libraries start and venture out as physical infrastructure. With the support
of the country's government and supporting agencies, libraries in ASEAN encourage
reading as a basic service that is made available through the facilities and
collections/materials preserved. It is firstly a learning community, where people,
especially children, are encouraged to develop the habit of reading as a step towards
enjoying learning.

Traditionally, the libraries are set up as physical infrastructures, and this is the basic
structure that enables services to be provided. Thailand has opened its renovated
National Library in the wake of Covid-19 and Cambodia is still continuing their
rebuilding efforts given its recent history.

ASEAN Library Services Framework 95

 Libraries as Public Infrastructure

Mobile Library
Remote Library

Source: World Vision

Indonesia

Libraries are meant to serve the public, and as libraries build on its physical
infrastructure, the better can they serve the public.

Innovations in public infrastructure include not just having the physical structure set
up but also capabilities in mobile and remote libraries.

ASEAN Library Services Framework 96

 Libraries as Social Services
Center

Community Centers
Learning
Communities
Ancillary Services
Outreach Centers

Source: sugbo. ph
Cebu City Public Library
provides WiFi hotspot and is
a 24/7 library

Libraries also provide social services, and this is the next step once physical and
public infrastructures have been set up.

ASEAN Library Services Framework 97

 Libraries as Information
Infrastructure

ASEAN Public
Library Academy
E-learning
Production of
Learning contents
Book & Document
Delivery
Copyright
Accessible Book
Consortium Source: koreabizwire. com
Incheon Library Introduces
24-hour Book Drive-thru
Service

Libraries as Information Infrastructure signify how important equitable access to

information is in in delivering library services. One innovative way of providing this
service is in bringing the information itself to the reader through the various book
delivery services or drive-thru made available by libraries. This way, the dissemination
of information is made easier.

ASEAN Library Services Framework 98

 Libraries as Innovation
Laboratory

Community projects
Expertise sharing
Truth-telling

Source: Nakanoshima
Children’ s Book Forest
in Osaka, Japan

Perhaps the most critical part in disseminating information is in the truth-telling

experience. Fake news abound and IFLA provides a plethora of information to ensure
that fact checked information remain in place. This has also been reiterated by Vicki
McDonald, State Library of Queensland's State Librarian and Chief Executive Officer to
which she says, state librarian and "truth-telling is the foundation of library service
that we provide to our members to ensure that information is factual and correct in
this day and age of misinformation."

Various innovative technologies can be applied in the library space by leveraging

available capabilities. This also encourages community engagement especially in the
services they need as input to the libraries' service offerings.

ASEAN Library Services Framework 99

 Libraries as Technological
Infrastructure

Online application and

payment systems
Internet access points
Digital clinics
Global book service
Virtual exhibitions
Mobile applications, AI
Curation of digital
collections/ learning
experiences
Omni channel Source: Getty Images
Online reference
services
ASEAN Digital Library
Digital literacy,
Webinars and Online
training
Digital Legal deposits

In the age of digital, libraries inevitably will provide technological infrastructure

services. Whether to aid in learning or as supplement to various studies done, these
services are the icing on the cake as this reflects the advancement of library services
made available to the majority of our digital savvy audience.

ASEAN Library Services Framework 100

 In determining the future library services available from the different national and
public libraries in the ASEAN region, various workshops were held for participants to
give their insights and perspectives on the current state of respective libraries.

Taking an external view on the factors that may affect the delivery of library services
has also been done, together with hearing from experts in the region. In particular,
Vicky McDonald, State Librarian and Chief Executive Officer of State Library of
Queensland in Australia and Emma Rey, President of the Philippine Librarians
Association, Inc. in the Philippines shared their insights on the importance of truth-
telling and in reframing services to remain relevant, respectively.

The outputs generated from the workshops yielded plenty of information on the
needs, challenges and opportunities, to name a few, for the future of the library
services in the region.

Here's an example of the ASEAN Library Services Framework taking into account the
inputs provided by the ASEAN Member States (AMS) participants.

Flexible
Leadership Strategic Staff Service Community
working Public Relations
Support Partnerships Volunteers Performance Engagements
arrangements

OPERATIONS SERVICES CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

PEOPLE AND CULTURE

Figure 2. ASEAN Library Services Framework

ASEAN Library Services Framework 101

 ASEAN Library Services Framework 102

Leadership Support

Leadership support came out as an integral part in sustaining library operations,

primarily as the library leader is expected to help in forging various partnerships and
securing funding necessary to augment its resources.

Securing fiscal funding is a key component in manifesting support of the library's

leadership and will determine the roadmap of library services that can be provided to
the members of the public.

Source: kr-asia. com

Children digital library KaDa Story
secured 100 million RMB of Series A+
funding
Strategic Partnership

Strategic partnerships are key in any library organization. In one of the strategies of the
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), its President Barbara
Lison highlighted the direction to strengthen the global voice of the libraries by building
a strong presence in international organizations and meetings as a valued partner -
organizations such as UNESCO, UNO and World Intellectual Property Organizations to name
a few.

Forging strategic partnerships enable libraries to achieve its objectives and goals and
augment or expand resources by virtue of these.

Source: IFLA Asia and Oceania

Facebook

ASEAN Library Services Framework 103

 ASEAN Library Services Framework 104

Staff Volunteers

Volunteerism is a big thing in Southeast Asia and visitors to the region take advantage of
doing charitable work by participating as volunteers particularly in libraries.

In addition to providing services, volunteerism highlight even more how communities

strengthen the delivery of services of the library. Its people remain as one of its vital
resources. Extending this to accommodate volunteers foster collaboration, camaraderie and
promote diversity in this age of inclusivity and equitable access to information for all.

Source: DFA Australia

Australian volunteer in sorting and
cataloging books at the National
Library of Cambodia
 ASEAN Library Services Framework 105

Flexible Working
Arrangements
The pandemic paved the way for flexible working arrangements which now became the de-
facto way of working. More recently, hybrid work arrangements have also been put in place
signifying flexibility of organizations to adapt to the surges and government lockdowns that
may be imposed in the process.

As part of its innovative services, libraries adhere to safety protocols by ensuring that its
people can quickly and smoothly shift to remote work as needed, minimizing service
interruption by utilizing readily available technology capabilities.

Source: IFLA
Work from Home (WfH) Librarian In
Bidang Pengolahan The National
Library Of Indonesia
 ASEAN Library Services Framework 106

Service Performance

Gone are the days when library access meant only going to the physical library premises.
Access to information is now everywhere and readily available 24x7. For this reason library
service performance should remain innovative and adaptable to the changing times,
especially to the needs of the members of the public.

Service performance innovation can address many aspects of library services. In

understanding potential, new and future library services that can be offered, it is
recommended to look into these roadmap of services that may be applicable and relevant
to your customer base.

Source: The Asia Foundation

Let' s Read Book Concert
 ASEAN Library Services Framework 107

Community
Engagements
Within the global library network lies a lot of engagements and collaboration that are meant
for continued and sustained learning and development. IFLA President Barbara Lison
reiterated that part of this community engagement is to connect and empower the field to
foster literacy, innovation, heritage preservation and access to information to all users.

Last 2020, the Leaders' Conversations happened in Singapore led by IFLA's Asia and
Oceania regional office together with Singapore's National Library Board. The Leaders'
Conversations is a new digital platform for leaders in the region and beyond to share their
insights on major developments in the library world. This engagement within the IFLA
community gave new and fresh perspectives to the participants which could also be a
template that can be done in the participants' respective countries.

Source: ifla. org

Leaders' Conversations
 ASEAN Library Services Framework 108

Public Relations

Visibility can be achieved through excellent and innovative communications. Various

platforms can be utilized in order to enhance this, starting particularly in the library's
website as the focal source of information. There are ancillary media to be used as well,
especially in social media to amplify the dissemination of information such as the use of
Facebook as key platform to share information.

Public relations help optimize the presence of the organization.

Source: ifla. org

Ask USIM Library service and similar
services allow
communication between the libraries
and their users
The pandemic truly transformed the way library
services are delivered, and more importantly,
how people have found new ways of consuming
information. The shift to digital has never been
this drastic and massive, and organizations need
to take advantage of this capability in order to
remain relevant and able to fulfill its mandate to
the public. Various library services can be Mobile library in Myanmar goes to
reframed in the process. eager readers
Source: Myanmar Times

Challenges raised by the libraries have been converted into

opportunities as well. One example is in the lack of fiscal funding in
order to have more resources and materials to supplement existing collections.
One way to address this is to forge partnerships and collaborations with other
libraries in the region to help extend and supplement resource availability for the
benefit of the public.

IN SUMMARY
Equitable access to Equitable access to information is an
important mandate of libraries
information is an Source: NLP
important objective of the
library all over the world
and the region will find it
beneficial to consider
putting in place an ASEAN
Public Library Academy in
order to continue and
sustain the lifelong
learning intended for
members of the public in
utilizing library services.
 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM MALAYSIA THAILAND

Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka National Library of National Library of
Library Malaysia Thailand
Emi Suryaney binti Haji Hasnida Jakeria Ngampen Yawong
Hipny
Sabah State Library National Library of
Ron Ely Julian Chiang Mai
Veronica Vivian Estrop Wannapa Pawino
Rafiq Binti Kamarudin

CAMBODIA MYANMAR VIETNAM

National Library of National Library of National Library of
Cambodia Myanmar Vietnam
Meng Piseth Kay Thi Aye Bui ThiThuy
Hoang Thi Thu
Public Libraries of Trang
Myanmar
Cho Nwehtay Win

INDONESIA PHILIPPINES
National Library of National Library of
Indonesia the Philippines
Arief Wicaksono Chona San Pedro-
Galo
North Borneo
Provincial Public Cagayan Provincial
Library Learning and
Yoseva Silaen Resource Center
Michael Pinto

LAO PDR SINGAPORE

National Library of National Library
Laos Board Singapore
Khanphathat Zulkifli Amin
Manotham Lee Maeiyu
Thongphanith
Phoukham

Contact Details:
reference@nlp.gov.ph
nlpasean-coci.project@nlp.gov.ph
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I S B N 9 7 8 - 9 7 1 -5 5 6- 0 5 9- 7 (h bd)
I S B N 9 7 8 - 9 7 1 -5 5 6- 0 60 - 3 (p df)