For the position of Governing Board Member 2015-2017

2nd Term

Ngian Lek ChohI have been active in the Library Association of Singapore (LAS) since I joined the library profession in 1977.   Between 2005-2011, I held the positions of Vice-President, President and Immediate Past President of the Association.

From 1995, I took on positions in the IFLA Public Libraries Section and the National Libraries Section to learn and to contribute to the IFLA movement.   I personally experienced the positive impact of IFLA participation and decided to stand for elections to play a bigger role in IFLA.

In 2013, I was elected as a Governing Board member.  I participated in the Action for Development Through Library Programmes (ALP) which includes Building Strong Library Associations (BSLA), and the IFLA International Leaders Programme.   I contributed actively to these capacity-building activities and saw first-hand how participants grew in their professional capacity from the programmes.  

I provided guidance and support to librarians from the Asia-Oceania region to strengthen their library associations, and raised funds to help over 450 delegates from Southeast Asia to attend the IFLA Congress in Singapore in 2013.

As part of my role in ALP and BSLA, I worked with the Myanmar Library Association and secured funding to ship 50,000 books to Myanmar in March 2015 to strengthen collections in national and public libraries.    A course on preservation and conservation of old and valuable library materials will be organised in Yangon for 40 specialists from the libraries and heritage agencies to learn more about these techniques. 

I seek your support to enable me to continue to contribute to IFLA to achieve its strategic objectives.  I will continue to serve as the bridge between librarians and libraries in the east and west, and to build the capacity and capability of library associations through my work in ALP, BSLA and the IFLA Risk Register.

Ngian Lek Choh
Consultant, National Library Board
Chairman, Cybrarian Ventures Pte Ltd
National Library Board of Singapore
Singapore