PIALA announces 33rd Annual Conference

The Pacific Islands Association of Libraries, Archives, and Museums is pleased to announce its 33rd Annual Conference will be held from Dec. 2 to 6, 2024, at the Guam Museum in Hagatna, Guam. The 33rd Annual PIALA Conference is co-sponsored by the Department of CHamoru Affairs, Guam Museum, Guam Public Library System, Guam Library Association, University of Guam’s Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Library, Guam Cultural Repository, Joeten-Kiyu Public Library, and Northern Marianas Library Association. PIALA is a regional association committed to fostering awareness and encouraging cooperation and resource sharing among libraries, archives, museums, and related institutions of the Pacific Islands.

The conference theme, “Indigenizing Libraries, Archives, and Museums in the Pacific,” will bring together professionals and enthusiasts from across the Pacific region to share knowledge, exchange ideas, and explore the latest trends in libraries, archives, and museums.

PIALA’s president and chair of this year’s conference is a daughter of the Northern Marianas, Erlinda Cabrera Naputi, who is the library director/CNMI state librarian of the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library. Naputi shared, “We humbly invite all of our community to join us to this year’s Pacific Islands Association of Libraries, Archives, and Museum Conference to the Guam Museum on the beautiful island of Guam-the largest island of the Marianas! This is a unique opportunity for us to come together as a community, learn from each other, and work towards a common goal of preserving and promoting our Pacific Island heritage. The theme of ‘Indigenizing Libraries, Archives, and Museums in the Pacific’ is particularly poignant in today’s age of globalization and rapid technological advancements. As our island communities continue to evolve and adapt to modernity, it is essential that we do not lose sight of our cultural roots and traditional values. Our libraries, archives, and museums play a crucial role in preserving our heritage and passing it on to future generations. We look forward to seeing you all at the conference and to engaging in meaningful conversations and collaborations that will help us indigenize our libraries, archives, and museums for the benefit of our future generations.”

Conference highlights:

Keynote speakers and presentations from leading experts in the field

Workshops and panel discussions on a wide range of topics

Networking opportunities with colleagues and peers

Cultural events and excursions showcasing the unique heritage of Guam

Registration and further information is available on our website https://piala-pacific.wixsite.com/piala-pacific. Please submit all registrations and direct all registration inquiries to PIALA treasurer Jefrey Libao at jlibao@triton.uog.edu

The 33rd Annual PIALA Conference consists of five full days of event-filled activities held on Dec. 2-6, 2024. Pre-conference starts on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024 leading to the general conference from Tuesday, Dec. 3 to Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. We will be expecting close to 100+ attendees from across the Pacific—Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Hawaii, Republic of Marshall Islands, Republic of Palau, Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk, Yap, Kosrae, and Pohnpei), New Zealand, Australia, and American Samoa, and the U.S. mainland. PIALA invites librarians, archivists, museum professionals, researchers, educators, students, and anyone interested in the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage to attend this exciting event.

General conference fee is $75 will be held from Dec. 3-6, 2024. Pre-conference fee is an additional $75 and will be held on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024.

We look forward to welcoming you to the 33rd Annual PIALA Conference in Guam!

Sponsorship opportunity

Are you interested in sponsoring the 33rd Annual PIALA Conference? Your consideration of an in-kind contribution or named sponsorship is welcome. Please contact the Northern Marianas Library Association at saipan.nmla2022@gmail.com for more details on how you can help.

PIALA

The Pacific Islands Association of Libraries, Archives, and Museums is a Pacific regional association established in 1991 and formed to address the needs of Pacific librarians, archivists, museum staff and other information professionals, with a special geographic focus on Micronesia.

Meaning “tiny islands,” Micronesia comprises some 2,200 little volcanic and coral islands spread throughout 4,500,000 square miles of Pacific Ocean. Lying west of Hawaii, east of the Philippines, south of Japan and north of Australia, the total land mass of all these tropical islands is less than 1,200 square miles with an estimated population of 555,013. The task of organizing a regional association, given this vast geographic setting and the lack of fast, reliable and inexpensive communication makes for many challenges. Hence, PIALA.

The seeds for PIALA were planted during the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Governor’s Conference for Libraries and Information Services, held in Saipan in October 1990. hereafter, at another informal meeting held November, 1990 at the Guam Governor’s Conference for Libraries and Information Services, plans for an organizational meeting were developed. An organizational meeting was then held at the University of Guam in February, 1991 at which two participants each from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, and the Territory of Guam attended.

PIALA is committed to the development of resource sharing tools and networks among the libraries, archives, museums, and related institutions of the Pacific Islands, development of continuing education programs and experiences, and promoting technology and telecommunications applications throughout the region. Our mission is to enhance the quality of leadership in order to support and strengthen libraries, archives, and museums across the Pacific Islands. Since the inception of PIALA, the membership has grown to 66 individual members from over 35 institutions representing countries and U.S. territories including Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia: Kosrae, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Palau, Tinian, Rota, Saipan, Guam, Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Japan, Tonga, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and the United Kingdom.

PIALA regional members comprise the following key associations in the Pacific: Northern Marianas Library Association (NMLA), Chuuk Association of Libraries (CAL), Guam Library Association (GLA), Hawaii Library Association (HLA), Kosrae Library Association (KLA), Libraries, Archives, and Museums of Pohnpei (LAMP), Marshall Islands Library Association (MILA), Palau Association of Libraries (PAL), and Yap State Library Association (YSLA).

This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services LS-256853-OLS-24. (PR)