PUTRAJAYA: The Ministry of National Unity has announced that Malaysia will host the 19th Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians (CONSAL XIX) from June 16 to 19 at the World Trade Centre (WTC), Kuala Lumpur.
It will be officiated by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
This edition of CONSAL XIX holds particular significance as it aligns with Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship in 2025, underscoring the nation’s commitment to strengthening regional cooperation founded on the values of unity, knowledge-sharing and inclusive community development.
Held under the theme ‘Leveraging Inclusivity, Empowering Humanity’, the congress will highlight the evolving role of libraries as strategic partners in community building, catalysts for inclusive knowledge ecosystems especially for marginalised and differently-abled groups, and contributors to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by helping bridge social divides.
Founded in 1970 through a joint initiative by librarians from Malaysia and Singapore, CONSAL has become a prominent platform uniting librarians, library institutions, library schools and information professionals from across Southeast Asia.
The organisation’s membership comprises all ten ASEAN member states: Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
In line with the aspirations of the MADANI Government, the Ministry of National Unity together with local library institutions remains committed to ensuring the success of CONSAL XIX as a meaningful platform to promote libraries as engines of social transformation and human empowerment, supporting both national and regional unity agendas.
