IASL2002

The 2002 IASL Conference

was held in August in
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

In Words and Pictures

"I would like to thank you for a marvelous and inspiring week. Everything was so well done. I wish I could send every teacher and education politician from [my country] over to see how things could, and should be." That was how one of the participants summed up the IASL conference held in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia from 5 to 9 August 2002.

Malaysia was honored to be the host for the second time (the first being in 1989) to the 31st Annual Conference of the International Association of School Librarianship, and incorporating the 6th Annual Forum on Research in School Librarianship. With a total of 398 participants from 24 countries attending, the conference saw many impressive presentations, excellent fellowship, eye-opening tours, warm hospitality form the hosts, and great support from the local dignitaries.

The conference activities started off with a one-day pre-conference tour of Kuala Lumpur for foreign delegates on Sunday 4 August. Participants had an opportunity to visit various places, such as the King's Palace, the Selangor Pewter factory and the Petronas Twin Towers to give them a sample of the country's sights, sounds, tastes, and smells.

Petronas Twin Towers
Conference delegates at the Petronas Twin Towers 		King's Palace
Conference delegates outside the King's Palace

The conference proper began with a welcome dinner and the official opening on Monday evening by the Hon. Minister of Education Malaysia, Tan Sri Dato' Seri Musa bin Mohamad. His presence was a boost to the conference and reflected his interest, as he had just returned from an international trip prior to the conference. In his address, Tan Sri Musa, a former Vice-Chancellor of the Science University of Malaysia, stressed that libraries were the essential entities in the knowledge society that supports lifelong learning. Apart from them being integral to the education process, they were essential to the development of literacy, teaching and learning, and culture. The school library also represented the core to intellectual freedom and access to information that were essential in effective and responsible citizenship and participants in a democracy. School libraries had traditionally acted as gatekeepers to information, knowledge and learning. These roles were still applicable, but in the knowledge based society these libraries will have to integrate themselves into the multiple-delivery channeled and networked society. Partnerships and alliances will be necessary to meet the multi-faceted demands of the different users.

Earlier, IASL President Peter Genco expressed the hope that years from now, Malaysians will look back on our contributions to society and knowledge, and will consider us to be the initial builders of school libraries in a youthful nation.

Official Opening
The Honorable Tan Sri Dato Seri Musa Mohamad, Minister of Education, Malaysia, officially opens the conference

Awaiting Minisiter's arrival
Peter Genco talking to Datuk Abdul Rafie while waiting for the Minister of Education's arrival

Minister with delegates
Minister of Education Tan Sri Musa speaking to one of the conference delegates; next to him is Datin Dr. Nor Hayati, Chairperson of the conference organizing committee

Opening Session
Peter Genco, the Minister of Education, Malaysia, and Datin Dr Nor Hayati Abdul Rashid, during the Opening Session

Peter Genco
IASL President, Peter Genco (USA), speaking at the official opening of the conference.

 Photographs courtesy of the Conference Organisers, Dr Diljit Singh and the people who operated Peter Genco's camera!

The Minister also presented the IASL awards for the year:

  • Jean Lowrie Leadership Development Award -- Alet Marais (Namibia)
  • Ken Haycock Leadership Development Award -- Herminigilda Salazar (Philippines)
  • UNESCO Book Projects Award -- Jahneen General Education (Oman); Action Solidarite Retour (Rwanda); Outer Islands High School (Micronesia); EGB 21 Primary School (Argentina); Bangizwe, KwaZulu Natal (South Africa)
  • SIRS Commendation Award -- Suzette Boyd (Australia)
  • Takeshi Murofushi Research Award -- Marlene Asselin (Canada)
  • IASL/Concord School Library Web Page of the Year Award -- Suzette Boyd (Australia)
  • Softlink Alice School Library Automation Award -- Sri Hatmas Secondary School (Malaysia)

Suzette Boyd
Suzette Boyd (Australia) is presented with the IASL/SIRS Commendation Award for 2002 by the Minister of Education during the official opening ceremony.

Malaysian dancers
Cultural performance Malaysian dancers perform during the conference dinner

The delegates were then entertained to a colorful and spectacular cultural performance, reflecting the various cultures of Malaysia.

Tuesday morning saw the conference getting down to serious work. The first keynote address was presented by Datuk Abdul Rafie bin Mahat, Director General of Education, Malaysia, who was himself a teacher-librarian in the early days of his career. In his address entitled School Libraries For and In a Knowledge Society, Datuk Abdul Rafie provided a Malaysian perspective on the development of school libraries. He urged participants to review and rethink, and perhaps redefine, the role and functions of school libraries, in the context of the society we are in or evolving towards, i.e. the knowledge society.

The second keynote paper by David Loertscher, Building Knowledge-Rich Environments for Youth: A World-wide Challenge for Schools and School Librarians outlined the development of a digital school library intranet as an information-rich and technology-rich environment designed to provide a nurturing and safe environment for both students and teachers throughout the school and extending into the home. Built upon this environment, David proposed strategies designed to stimulate the rise of a knowledge-rich environment or learning community using concepts of collaboration, information literacy, user control, and the phenomenon of small world networks.

Altogether, there were 39 presentations, comprising two keynotes addresses, five workshops, eleven research papers, and twenty-one professional papers.

David Loertscher
David Loertscher delivering his Keynote Address

Conference delegates
Conference participants listening with attention

Participants took a break from the presentations to visit school and community libraries on Wednesday afternoon, where they saw first-hand the developments and challenges faced by Malaysian libraries.

Sri Bintang School
Conference participants at the Sri Bintang School

Taman Setia Wangsa
Conference participants at the Taman Setia Wangsa School

Foreign delegates were also entertained to dinner with local hosts on Wednesday evening, which enabled them to get to know their Malaysian colleagues better and to sample the varieties of Malaysian food.

Gerald Brown The IASL Auction, a fun filled annual feature since the 1989 conference in Malaysia, saw Gerald Brown at his best on Thursday evening in persuading delegates to bid for the donated items on display. The auction raised approx. US$ 1,500, which will be used to fund projects such as the Support at Member, Support an Association, and other projects that help the membership in developing countries.

The conference was officially closed on Friday by Datuk Abdul Rafie bin Mahat. The International Book Exhibit award was also presented to Sekolah KebangsaanTelok Kechai, Kedah, a small rural school in northern Malaysia. President Peter Genco handed over the IASL flag to the hosts of the 2003 conference, South Africa.

Following the conference, a number of participants joined the post conference tour of Putrajaya, the new administrative capital of Malaysia and designed to be Malaysia's first Intelligent Garden City. Two busloads of foreign and local participants saw the spectacular new city is being developed about 20 km south of Kuala Lumpur, including a visit to the Prime Minister's offices and official residence. Some participants stayed back for tours and visits on their own.

Feedback from the participants indicated that the conference was a success. IASL Vice-President, Helle Barret wrote to say "As a delegate representing the Swedish Library Association at the year 2002 IASL Conference in Malaysia, I want to congratulate the conference team to a very successful conference. Several topics of worldwide interest were discussed and the study-tours to libraries and schools were of great value and highly interesting." Elisabeth Logan of Singapore wrote "Thank you for such a good conference. I thought most of the presentations were very good and I met many very interesting people. I hope that some of the materials I acquired will help our campaign for teacher-librarians in Singapore." The local participants too enjoyed the conference. Many notes of gratitude were received and most of the teacher-librarians, principals, and education department officials felt that the conference had significantly added to the knowledge of the locals.

Thank you to everyone who made it possible!

Diljit Singh
Malaysia

More photographs are available!

Last Updated 9 April 2003 (LAC)