International Seminar in Myanmar on Conservation Management of ASEAN Library Collections

From August 7-10, 2024, in Yangon City (Myanmar), the Department of Historical Research and National Library, under the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture of Myanmar, hosted the Seminar on Conservation Management of Library Collections for ASEAN with the theme: "New Challenges and Different Methods for the Conservation of ASEAN Literary Heritage: Current Perspectives and the Best Findings".

Speaking at the opening of the seminar, Ms. Daw Nu Mra Zan - Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs and Culture of Myanmar stated that conservation management of literary collections is the most critical factor for libraries because libraries are the places where they distribute knowledge to people. Each ASEAN member country processes precious literary heritages, sharing library-related experiences among ASEAN countries is therefore the best way to advance library development.

The seminar attracted attention and participation of many delegates and experts in the field of conservation from libraries, museums, and national archives of ASEAN member countries, with many presentations sharing about literary collections, conservation methods, and the difficulties and challenges faced in the implementation of this activity in each country, focusing on the following main contents:

- Processing and preserving handwritten manuscripts on paper and palm leaves;

- Processing and preserving printed materials: books, newspapers, maps;

- Digitizing rare materials to minimize the risk of damage to rare and precious original materials.

The National Library of Viet Nam sent a representative to attend and present a paper at the seminar with the theme "Preservation of Indochina Book Collection at the National Library of Viet Nam", sharing information about the Indochina Book collection, methods of preventive preservation and restoration of the collection; introducing some equipment and materials used in preservation work. In addition, the paper also mentioned the difficulties in standardizing preservation activity; proposed working principles for preservation staff at the library to optimize the methods and achieve the highest efficiency. At the same time, the paper also highlighted the efforts, awareness and responsibilities of the National Library of Viet Nam staff to join hands in conservation of the literary collections of the Library.

2024-08-12-myanmar- 1