From Singapore to IFLA: An Interview with R. Ramachandran

-- Library Journal, 2/2/2004

R. Ramachandran, Deputy Chief Executive of Singapore's National Library Board, has been named incoming Secretary General of IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. As part of the background for LJ's feature on the NLB, we asked "Rama," as he is known, how his work in Singapore prepared him for the new position, which he will assume April 1. NLB, he said, offers a "unique experience of working in a comprehensive array of responsibilities and portfolios within the library and information context. Unlike other library systems, NLB manages the National Library, the public libraries, school libraries and special libraries." Ramachandran has not only worked in different types of libraries but in myriad departments.

Moreover, he added, "Over a period of 30 years, I have been instrumental in developing Singapore libraries from a third world status to a first world library service. This ability to relate to the development of libraries in poorer economies and concurrently assist libraries in the developed world is an expertise that few would have had the opportunity to acquire and...it is an essential prerequisite to anyone aspiring to play a role in international organizations." He also cited not only the unprecedented effort to get funding for the NLB but his work raising $1M (SGD) as Chairman, National Book Development Council of Singapore, a non-profit umbrella body for the book and information industry.

As Secretary-General, Congress of South-East Asian Librarians, he is responsible for librarian and library development in ten countries. "My experience in working with libraries and librarians in developing countries of the region places me in good standing to take on the position in an organization whose membership from developing countries is growing," he said. IFLA "faces challenges from a diverse group of membership at different levels of growth and each requiring special and unique attention and assistance to develop and sustain libraries."