On the 19th of August, four librarians from Melbourne and fourteen from Canberra attended the EALRGA Annual General Meeting via Skype. We updated each other with the latest personnel changes in the libraries of Monash University, the University of Melbourne, the Australian National University and the National Library of Australia, which has become necessary in recent years due to the sheer frequency of organisational changes. While we acknowledged our long standing members Bick-har Yeung and Michelle Hall who had left their positions in the University of Melbourne Library, we were also keen to meet and introduce the new faces representing East Asian library resources as well as those of the broader Asian region at both ends

Following last year’s discussion, a series of discussions and consultations between Committee members and other active participants was carried out to incorporate a wider Asian focus into EALRGA to cater for recent needs and roles of library resources users and practitioners. As a result, the original Constitution of EALRGA (1978) was reviewed and updated for final endorsement at this year’s AGM.

Under the new Constitution, the East Asian Library Resources Group of Australia has now taken on a broader regional interest in Asian Studies and changed our name to “Asian Library Resources of Australia (ALRA)”.

The updated Objectives for ALRA emphasized encouraging and enabling knowledge sharing and effective distribution of collection resources. These changes effectively encapsulate the ever growing challenges being experienced in the past thirty-seven years of our Group and signifies our common wish for a sustainable way forward.

The original objectives to promote Asian Studies librarianship as well as to encourage discussion and information exchange are maintained and are highly ranked in the new Constitution. We also confirmed at the AGM that JALRGA was officially merged into ALRA to achieve a more integrated profile. The EALRGA mailing list continues to be one of the main networking platforms to support library staff, users, and those interested in Asian Studies library services for the purpose of exchanging the latest information and ideas.

As the current Committee has served its full term of two years since 2013, a new round of elections is now in process. I encourage nominations from eligible members, and in particular, new members with an interest in broader Asian library resources, to join the Committee and embrace the new opportunities brought about by the new Constitution and a stronger network.

Rebecca Wong
President