• 2018-12-24

On October 29, 2018, NCL Director-General Shu-hsien Tseng paid a visit to the National Library of Thailand. The purpose of her visit was to gain an understanding of the library’s historical background and promotional activities, and also meet with library staff to exchange views on topics such as rare book catalogues, reading promotion, book depositories, and international publication exchanges. After the meeting, Ms. Tseng was given a tour of the library’s services and facilities, including its collections of manuscripts, rare books, foreign books, children’s books, and degree dissertations. Established in 1905, the National Library of Thailand in one of Asia’s oldest national libraries and is dedicated to gathering and preserving Thailand’s different types of knowledge media, while serving the country’s citizens. Besides its collection of over two million volumes in Thai or English, the library also possesses rare and precious woodblock-printed editions, handwritten Thai manuscripts, and Buddhist sutras and texts written on palm leaves and scrolls.

During her trip, Director-General Tseng also visited Chulalongkorn University library, where she was given a tour of its various services and facilities, which included its 24-hour access floor mechanisms, exhibition space, digital creation space, and discussion and meeting spaces. She also learned about the library’s innovative approaches to its collections, services, environment and continuous development. The visit was an excellent opportunity for the two libraries to more deeply share and exchange experience in operational matters and in the implementation of service policies.