CAMBODIAN LIBRARIES: Preparation toward ASEAN Library Community. Kolap Mao, MLIS Library Director Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia

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1 CAMBODIAN LIBRARIES: Preparation toward ASEAN Library Community Kolap Mao, MLIS Library Director Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia I. Historical Background of Libraries in Cambodia Before the modern libraries, written documents about Cambodian tradition and religions were kept at various Buddhist temples in the country, while written historical documents were kept at the Royal Palace (Ang 3). The first modern library was established in 1921 by King Sisowat. It was called Khmera Library. The king ordered all the documents collected from the Buddhist temples to be copied and placed in the Khmera Library. Those documents were written in Khmer and Pali. The National Library was built in 1924 by the French Protectorate (Ang 8). Other types of libraries, including academic and school libraries, were established along with the development of universities and schools from 1953 to 1975 (Ang 15). II. Current Status of Libraries in Cambodia Due to the radical policy of the Khmer Rouge regime, educated people were killed and written documents were destroyed. After the regime collapsed in 1979, the country went through over ten years of another civil war. Due to the severe destruction during the Khmer Rouge period and the prolonged civil war, it has been very hard for Cambodian libraries to recover. Finally political stability began after 1997 which has allowed Cambodia to pursue its development, including libraries. For 15 years, even though Cambodian libraries have been facing all kind of constraints, they have made certain improvements. 1. National Library The purpose of the National Library is to collect, preserve and provide access to the nation s documentary heritage. It contains books, reports, serials and non-print items, published in 1

2 Cambodia, about Cambodia, or by Cambodians It currently holds 100,000 books and thousands of other items including, audio visual items and periodicals. The library has three major special collections. The first collection is 23,000 books which survived the Khmer Rouge regime. They are written in Khmer and French. 400 titles are books about Cambodia, 800 titles about Indochina, and the rest about general topics. The second special collection is palm leave manuscripts which are written in Sanskrit about Cambodian medicine, culture, and religions. The collection contains 224 titles, and 3000 rolls, which dating from 18 th to 20 th century. The third one is an image collection. There are over 20,000 images in this collection, featuring Cambodian daily live, arts, culture and history. These are dated from the 1800s to The National Library is also in charge of issuing ISBN; and keeps all copies of books, periodicals and other publications published in Cambodia. Since the library was authorized to issue ISBN in late 2005, it has assigned numbers to 386 publishers, and issued ISBNs to 8000 book titles. 2. Academic Library By 2011, there were 91 higher education institutions (HEIs) of which 57 are private institutions. Based on directives of the Accreditation Committee of Cambodia (ACC), HEIs institutions are required to have adequate libraries to support learning, teaching and research. The biggest academic library is the Hun Sen Library located in the Royal University of Phnom Penh. The library holds 65,000 items (Hun). Recently the government has paid strong attention to developing academic libraries. In the goals of Education, Youth and Sport for the Academic Year , the Ministry identifies the development of libraries as part of its goals (MoEYS 23). ACC also defines a policy to strengthen academic libraries in its minimum standards for accreditation of higher education institutions. The policy also encourages the libraries to establish partnerships and collaborations with other libraries locally, regionally and internationally (ACC 19-21), which reflects the 2

3 actions stated in the Blueprint for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. In the goal of building the ASEAN identity, action xvii, states: encourage cooperation and networking including book exchange programmes among libraries in ASEAN (ASEAN 21). 3. School Libraries Through partnership between the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, and development partners including Room to Read, SIPAR, Shanti Volunteer Association (SVA), thousands of school libraries have been developed from the 1990s to the present. 3,185 elementary schools out of 6,675 now have libraries, and 265 high schools out of 1918 have libraries. To systematically improve the condition of school libraries, in 2011, the minimum standards for elementary school libraries was adopted by Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, and minimum standards for high school libraries is expected to be adopted by the ministry in Other Types of Libraries in Cambodia Besides the libraries mentioned above, Cambodia also has other types of libraries. These include libraries housed at various government institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and International Organizations (IOs), prison libraries, and mobile libraries. SIPAR has done incredible work in providing prisoners with access to books. There are 27 prisons in the country, and four of them now have libraries established by SIPAR. The four libraries are serving 7000 prisoners. Through funding from the European Union, SIPAR is building seven more prison libraries in 2012, ten libraries in 2013, and six more in Association of Librarians and Information Specialists The Association of Librarians and Information Specialists was founded in e2003 and officially registered in The association aims (1) to build relations among librarians and information specialists, (2) to improve library/information center capacity, (3) to study all aspects of librarianship including technical work, administration, programs and services of libraries and information centers, (4) to protect benefits of libraries and information centers. As of now, the 3

4 association has 200 members. Since its establishment, the association has provided several library trainings to its members and has sent some members to get training abroad Cam-eIFL In 2005, Cam-eIFL was also found. Cam-eIFL stands for Cambodian Electronic Information for Libraries Consortium (Cam-eIFL). The consortium is part of the international eifl. Through the Cam-eIFL, Cambodian libraries have access to 10 international databases of journal articles and other educational materials. Moreover Cambodian libraries also have access to other international databases sponsored by major international publishers and the UN, including Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA), Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI), and Online Access to Research in the Environment (OARE). Cam-EIFL also provides training to its members on how to use those databases. 6. Library Education Programs There is no library education degree program in the country at present. Many librarians have received short library training for one to two weeks organized by different stakeholders including MoEYS, Association of Librarians and Information Specialists, Cam-eIFL, Room to Read, SIPAR, SVA, and THE Asia Foundation. Some of them went abroad for a few to six months of library training, while a very few earned their master s degrees in library science. Different stakeholders have discussed developing associate degree programs in library and information studies in the country. III. Vision, Mission and Action Plans of Cambodian Libraries toward ASEAN Library Community 1. Vision and Mission Despite their current constraints, Cambodian libraries strive to become proactive members of ASEAN library community. We will not only beneficiary participants in the community, but also contributing participants. To achieve this vision, the libraries commit to: To improve library collections, services, programs and technology Develop the expertise and skills for librarians in the country 4

5 Build relationships and cooperation with other ASEAN libraries Establish bilateral partnership with other ASEAN libraries Proactively participate in ASEAN library initiatives 2. Action Plans To improve Cambodian libraries and to contribute to ASEAN library community, Cambodian libraries have come up with some action plans: 2.1 The National Library of Cambodia plans to make the three special collections described above to be available online including: books published from 1800s to 1975 that survived the Khmer Rouge regime, the palm leaf manuscript collection, and the image collection Catalog of Books in Print in Cambodia To make librarians both in the country and the region have easy access to information about books in print in Cambodia, the National Library plans to develop a catalog for books in print Online Directory of Cambodian Libraries To make Cambodian libraries more visible in the ASEAN library community, the Cambodian Association of Librarians and Information Specialists will develop a comprehensive directory of Cambodian libraries. Based on the information available through the directory, other ASEAN libraries can easily find Cambodian library partners based on common interests and mutual benefits Cambodian Union Catalog Cambodian libraries will work collaboratively to develop the Cambodian Union Catalog. The catalog will be employed with software in which we can share biographic information with other ASEAN libraries. 5

6 2.5. Article Database In an effort to help support learning and teaching, and contribute to the ASEAN community library, Cambodian libraries will collaboratively develop an article database which provides access to citations and some full texts of articles, book chapters, and other educational materials related to Cambodia Library Education Program To help build library staff members knowledge and skills in the library profession, different stakeholders will collaboratively develop associate degree program in library and information studies in the country Publish a Library Journal The Cambodian Association of Librarians and Information Specialists plan to publish an annual library journal. The journal will include research findings and other articles related to libraries. The journal articles will be published in both Khmer and English, and be available in print and online Library Visit and Librarian Exchange Program As part of skills and capacity development, Cambodia libraries will seek different opportunities to send librarians to visit or to get hands-on-learning at other ASEAN libraries. Cambodian libraries also welcome ASEAN librarian fellows to Cambodia. 6

7 Special Note and Acknowledgement Most of information written in this paper is acquired through author s personal involvement with different library projects with different stakeholders in Cambodia, and input from three government officials: Ms. Khlot Vibolla, Director of National Library of Cambodia, and President of Association of Cambodian Librarians and Information Specialists; Ms. Yim Mory, Director of Samdech Akeak Moha Senabadey Dechou Hun Sen And Louk Chomteav Library, Department of Curriculum Development, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport; and Ms. Choun Mony, Head of Preservation Conservation Office, National Library of Cambodia. These three distinguish officials are playing very important roles in library development in the country. Reference Accreditation Committee of Cambodia. Minimum Standards for Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions Ang, Chubo The Cambodian Librarian s Manual. Phnom Penh: Cambodian National Library Association of Southeast Asian Nations. ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint Cambodian Association of Librarians and Information Specialists. Bylaw Hun Sen Library. Royal University of Phnom Penh. Web. 11 Jul < Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Minimum Standards for Elementary School Libraries Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport. Summary Report on the Education, Youth and Sport Performance in the Academic Year and the Academic Year Goals