NATIONAL LIBRARY OF VIETNAM

From 09-11 March 2016, the 24^th annual meeting of the Conference of Directors of National Libraries in Asia and Oceania (CDNL-AO) and the seminar “Adding value through international cooperation” has taken place at the National Library of New Zealand, Wellington with participation of 27 delegates representing 17 National Libraries in the region. Speaking at the Opening session of the conference, Minister of the Internal Affairs of New Zealand (Ministry in charge of the library sector) has highlighted the value of reflecting national identity of the cultural heritage documents which are currently preserved by national libraries and expressed his desire that national libraries in the region should further promote the accessibility to these heritage documents, especially to inspire and engage the youth in the heritage conservation and promotion activities in each country.

H.E.Mr. Jean-Noel Porier, France’s Ambassador to Vietnam, on March 9 in Ha Noi presented the French Order of Arts and Literature to Mr. Pham The Khang, former Director of the National Library of Viet Nam (NLV). Mr. Pham The Khang has made great, valuable contributions in popularizing the French language and culture to Vietnamese people, including the preservation of French- language cultural materials, as well as boosting the cooperation between the National Library of France and the National Library of Viet Nam, said the French Ambassador at the award ceremony. Currently, NLV is still actively deploying professional activities related to the preservation, restoration, digitization the old French books for the purpose of facilitating the access to the precious knowledge stored in digital form for wider public users, while conserving the original, historical documents.

On 2^nd March, 2016, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST) held a Board meeting of evaluation and acceptance of science and technology subject at Ministerial level "Renovating managerial organization and operation methods of Vietnam libraries ". Deputy Minister of MoCST Mr. Huynh Vinh Ai holds the Chairman position of the board. Managerial organization and library operation play important roles which are crucial to the library performance efficiency. In recent years, library operation in our country is dramatically affected by the achievements of science and technology, especially information technology and communications, plus the trend of increasingly profound international integration that is making Vietnam libraries face new challenges in the organization of management and operation. Therefore, innovations are necessary in order to meet existing and future users’ requirements, fulfill the missions of libraries well to the society and the country.