Brunei to host CONSAL XII Conference
By Laila Rahman

Haji Bakar bin Haji Zainal, Acting Director of the Language and Literature Bureau (C) at the press conference.

The Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians (CONSAL) XII Conference will be held from October 19 till 24 at the International Conference Centre. It is organised by Brunei Language and Literature Bureau with the cooperation of the Brunei Library Association and it is supported by the CONSAL secretariat, Singapore and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.

This was noted by Haji Bakar bin Haji Zainal, Acting Director of the Language and Literature Bureau cum the chairperson during a press meeting held at the Bureau premises yesterday.

He explained the objectives of the event were to establish and strengthen relations among librarians, libraries, library schools, library associations and related organisations in the region.

Moreover, it hopes to promote cooperation with regional and international organisations and institutions in the fields of librarianship, library and information sciences, documentation, information and related activities. The theme of the conference is "Information Resources Empowerment: Enhancing Knowledge Heritage".

Haji Bakar said that currently 285 participants had registered to attend the conference.

During the 5-day conference, 34 working papers will be presented by 27 foreign presenters and 9 local presenters. He emphasised that there will be 2 major working papers which will be presented by Dato Paduka Haji Abdullah, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Professor Chen from Universiti of Arizona, United States of America.

About 37 booths had been booked by publishers, agents and others. Among the countries participating are the United States of America, United Kingdom, Malaysia and Thailand.

The organiser also prepared a special activity for the children at the conference.

Furthermore, a Library Fair will be open to the public from October 19 till 23 from 9 am till 5 pm at the lobby of the ICC. It will display books, IT products and services relating to libraries and information profession.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin