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ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 54| December 2001
Public Events during Treasures from the World's Great Libraries
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| A sample of the National Library's range of publications from Brunei |
Oliver Mann, the Librarys Regional Officer based in Jakarta, undertook a field trip to Brunei Darussalam (Abode of Peace) in late September. Brunei is a small, wealthy Malay Islamic Monarchy ruled by a Sultan on the northwest coast of the island of Borneo. The capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, is a great contrast to Jakarta: small, well laid-out, light traffic, unpolluted, and much hotter.
The Library acquires Bruneian publications through the Library of Congress (LC) Southeast Asia Acquisitions Program but it was apparent that there were some gaps in the Librarys Collection and Oliver was asked to make some acquisitions.
Despite its small population of 300 000 the publishing output from Brunei is impressive, influenced by a high literacy rate and a proud sense of national identity. Most of the publishing is in the government
sector, typically more difficult to acquire in Southeast Asia, and Brunei proved to be no exception. However, the recent development of government department web sites made the task easier, as did detailed briefing notes from the Library.
Having taken the essential step of establishing the correct contact in each agency Oliver visited a range of government institutions conveniently grouped together on the old airport complex (a section of the runway is still intact and used to test learner drivers!). The Information Department of the Prime Ministers Office, the Ministries of Finance and Education, and the Islamic Dakwah Centre in the Ministry of Religion all yielded a large number of publications. The Brunei Museum, Brunei Historical Centre, and the Language and Literature Bureau provided useful cultural material, and the University of Brunei Darussalam is also an active publisher in the humanities and social sciences.
Oliver covered the limited commercial publishing activity (often sponsored by Shell Petroleum and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) with the assistance of the Library of Congress agent in Brunei who owns the best bookshop in the capital. The Australian High Commission was most helpful, and offered to send local publications and the daily newspaper The Borneo Bulletin to the Library each week.
The Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (Language and Literature Bureau) functions as Bruneis National Library. Its Director, Mr. Haji Abu Bakar Bin Haji Zainal, generously gave Oliver copies of recent Bureau publications, and suggested useful contacts in the city. Oliver gave a presentation on the National Library of Australia and its Regional Office to the Bureau staff.
Apart from acquiring a broad selection of current Brunei publications Oliver has established contacts in key government agencies to hopefully ensure material will continue to be sent to the Library.
Oliver Mann can be contacted at the National Librarys Regional Office in the Australian Embassy, Jakarta, Indonesia (oliver.mann@dfat.gov.au)
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: dthomas@nla.gov.au