BANGKOK, 4 June 2015 – Thailand will be hosting the 16th Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians (CONSAL XVI) to ensure the sustainable development of libraries within the region, says Culture Minister.
The Minister of Culture Vira Rojpojchanarat has revealed that the Department of Fine Arts will be hosting the CONSAL XVI meeting on 11-13 June 2015 at BITEC Bangna Exhibition Center. The event will also be hosted in honor of the auspicious occasion of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s fifth cycle birthday.
This year’s meeting will be held under the topic ‘ASEAN Aspirations: Libraries for Sustainable Advancement’ with about 800 participants including executives, librarians, information workers, and staffs from education institutes from the ASEAN Countries and Timor Leste.
HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will be presiding over the opening ceremony of CONSAL XVI on 11 June 2015.
The Culture Minister has said that Thailand and other countries are facing a shortage of librarians as the profession is considered old-fashioned. The creation of library staff, and the modernization libraries and archive systems are required. Online searching system and electric books and documents storage will be incorporated to the modernization plans of libraries in the region.
He has said that a model promoting reading and learning is now being developed, which includes collecting books’ information and learning sources worldwide to encourage people to read more. Once the model outline plan has been completed, it will then be submitted for the Cabinet’s approval.
