Shivanthi Weerasinghe appointed President of Library Association

Monday, 4 August 2014 00:29 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Shivanthi Weerasinghe was inducted as the President of the Sri Lanka Library Association (SLLA) at its 54th Annual General Meeting held recently at the Sri Lanka Foundation. The Association, which is the apex professional body of librarians and information professionals in Sri Lanka for over 50 years, is also involved in national and international library and information activities. The SLLA represents libraries island-wide, as public, academic, special (private sector and business), school, local government, government departments, research, international, institutional and NGO libraries that serve users from diversified areas of society.

The SLLA conducts educational courses targeting professional and non professional library personnel and those who are aspiring to enter the LIS field. The main education program of SLLA is the Diploma in Library and Information Science (DIPLIS) which is offered as a three-tiered, three-year professional course conducted in Sinhala, Tamil and English medium in five centers in Sri Lanka. With the successful completion of DIPLIS, and fulfillment of other criteria, the Associateship is awarded. Shivanthi is a professional in the field of Librarianship and Information Science (LIS) with over 35 years of experience and presently the Librarian of the Bank of Ceylon. She is an Associate and a Fellow of the Sri Lanka Library Association and holds a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Colombo. She has been involved with various professional engagements, especially in the Association in various capacities. She was the Convener of the National Conference on Library and Information Sciences (NACLIS) of the SLLA themed ‘Harnessing Information for Socio Economic Development’ a few years back. She has also been a visiting lecturer at LIS academic and professional bodies and has presented LIS papers at local and international conferences. As the winner of the International Paper Contest of American Society for Information Science & Technology (Special Interest Group of International Information Issues) in 2004 for the paper titled ‘The Role of Financiers as Intermediaries in Bridging the Information Gap of Micro Entrepreneurs of Sri Lanka,’ she was invited to present the winning paper in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. Shivanthi was the first Sri Lankan LIS professional to receive a scholarship from The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions under the Advancement for Library Program, for the Training Course on Information Technology and Information Services held at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Shivanthi has contributed LIS articles and several LIS book reviews to journals published in local and international publications. – Lilamani Amerasekera