The members of LAS gathered at Grand Plaza Park Hotel on 17 March 2007 for our Annual General Meeting. We enjoyed a sumptuous lunch.

Swets Information Services gave a presentation on their new product, SwetsWise Subscriptions.

The AGM started off with Sylvia Yap, outgoing President, addressing the meeting. She highlighted the main achievements of the Council in the past year which included:

• LAS Conference successfully carried out using solely the talents of its members
• Professional Development Scheme proposed
• LAS finances with a healthy surplus

Sylvia emphasized that a strong membership was crucial for LAS. She encouraged members to come forward to serve. She put on record her heartfelt thanks to all council members, committee members and leaders of the libraries in Singapore for their unstinting support and encouragement.

After the minutes of the previous AGM was passed, we dealt with matters arising. The main one being the IFLA Feasibility Study. There were significant changes to the IFLA bidding process which largely included the appointment of a professional conference organizer. After due consideration, the meeting agreed to LAS putting in a bid for the IFLA Conference.

The next item the meeting agreed to the renaming of the Building Fund to Development Fund.

The Professional Development Scheme generated the most debate. Everyone agreed that professional development was important but some were not in favour of the way the scheme had been proposed to be implemented. It was agreed to study the scheme further and to incorporate the concerns of members. It was agreed that the LAS Council would make a decision on the revised scheme after due consultation with members.

Choy Fatt Cheong recorded his thanks to Sylvia Yap and her council for their excellent work. He saw remarkable changes in LAS under her leadership. Dr Varaprasad also recorded his thanks to LAS for the go ahead for the IFLA bid. He asked members not to underestimate the strength of our libraries and our librarians who can achieve much when they put their minds to it.

The election for the next LAS Council was conducted next and there were enough nominations for a full council. The new council comprises:

• Ngian Lek Choh, President
• Pushpa Leow, Vice-President
• Kris Lim, Honorary Secretary
• Tey Lin Lin, Honorary Treasurer
• Cumaraswamy Mukunthan, Assistant Honorary Secretary
• Kho Su Yian, Council Member
• M Shaheen Majid, Council Member
• Catherine Tan, Council Member
• Tan Lay Tin, Council Member
• Wan Ho Wah, Council Member

Ngian Lek Choh addressed the meeting as the President-Elect. She viewed the IFLA bid as a channel for professional development and as a way for librarians to come together. For the Professional Development Scheme, she would ensure that all views were heard and to get the best scheme going. She would set up a taskforce to solicit feedback to ensure that LAS is relevant and useful to younger members. She also hoped to sow the seeds for greater cooperation between libraries and librarians and looks forward to the cooperation of members in the next two years of her term.

Contributed by Yeo Pin Pin