| Dear Readers, The year 2008 was a memorable year in many ways. EALRGA celebrated its 31st anniversary with a special function in May in the RG Menzies Building of the ANU Library. The Committee took the opportunity of this occasion to honour Enid Bishop who was a founding member of EARLGA and who contributed significantly to East Asian librarianship in Australia. The event was very well attended, not only by library staff but also by academics, both current and retired, a testament to their high regard for Enid and her achievements in establishing the premier East Asia collection within Australian universities. The texts of speeches given on the day are published in this issue of the EARLGA Newsletter. This year will also see a change to the EALRGA Committee. EALRGA was established in Canberra and its Committee members were drawn from the two major East Asian libraries in Canberra, namely the National Library of Australia and the Australian National University Library. In 2009, the Committee will for the first time include someone from outside Canberra when Bick-har Yeung, from the University of Melbourne Library, joins us as the new Editor of the EALRGA Newsletter. We are very pleased to welcome Bick-har to the Committee and look forward to working more closely with East Asian librarians from other cities around Australia. At the same time we regret losing Wan Wong who has served so energetically and capably as Editor in the past four years. Although Wan will no longer be Editor, she will remain a Committee member and will continue to be actively involved with EALRGA's activities. On behalf of the EALRGA Committee I wish all our readers a Happy and Successful New Year! |