Ideally, the Committee is set up to :

• encourage togetherness among fellow librarians and develop a sense of kindred spirit always ready to help each other out
• organise events that are academic in nature
• bridge the gap among librarians and the top management
• besides – spending time away from the office together is the best way to know one another. Studies have shown that when people care about the people they work with, they will go the extra mile. The flow of good vibes within a group will create a more balanced, functional and successful organization.

Below were the series of activities held by the new Committee members :

The first activity started in July

The team got together and decided to have Forum Perdana for the month of Ramadhan. Rather than have a single speaker for the Tazkirah we got overzealous and secured two speakers. They were :

• Imam Muda Hizbur Rahman Bin Haji Omar Zuhdi &
• Ustaz Mohamad Shahrir Bin Haji Abd Mutalib al-Hafiz.

Both enlightened the audience spiritually with their wisdom and knowledge. Academic Forum

Next were a series of presentations on 28th August 2014 by librarians who had attended conferences on various occassions. Staff who went on leave for seminars were required to share their knowledge in the Academic Forum. During the session the following librarians presented :

• Puan Haniza Adnan & Puan Siti Juryiah Mohd Khalid on Seminar Amalan Terbaik Di Perpustakaan, Shangri-La, Kota Kinabalu, 24-27 April 2014
• Puan Ratnawati Sari Mohd Amin on Seminar Tadbir Urus Cemerlang Edisi Ke-7, 24-27 Jun 2014, Langkawi
• Encik Mohd Faizal Hamzah on Engaging users using mobile application, 27-30 Mei 2014, Istanbul, Turkey.

Jumble Sale

In September the library organized a Carnival or otherwise known as The Library Open Day to promote its services and facilities to users. The opportunity was grabbed and a Jumble Sale was set up to collect funds for charity. Staff gave away branded shoes, knick knacks, new as well as used clothes. A total RM2,800 was raised. Aruna brilliantly suggested cool and refreshing lemonade was sold at the same time so that should customers felt thirst they could just reached for the drinks . RM100 was invested and rolled from the Ikhtisas fund and at the end of the day RM300 was collected.

Visit to the Old Folks Home

In October 2014, the Ikhtisas Committee visited the Al-Ikhlas Old Folks Home in Puchong. Growing old can never be easy and being neglected or abandoned by relatives in nursing homes make it even harder. Again, items and cash were collected. RM500 was spent from the Jumble Sale fund to buy adult diapers and comfort food, another RM952 was collected from the staff and RM500 cash was taken from the Jumble Sale fund.

It has been a humbling experience for the Committee.

Book Donation

The last activity for 2014, was a book donative drive for the School in the Hospital at UM Medical Centre on 31^st December 2014. There was a huge booksale at the Big Bad Wolf and the Committee went on a shopping spree. A total of RM500 was spent on leisure and educational books for the hospital. It is hoped that sick children would find encouragement, solace and comfort in the books.

The Chief Librarian was there to give away the books. The school had cool interior and was tastefully designed to cheer up the sick children.

All in all, the past activities have been inspiring and enriching. While fulfilling KPIs are no doubt crucial since it is the actual job requirement and expectation, reaching out to society and doing bits for a better world through the profession can actually serve a broader public interest besides giving the energy and satisfaction that binds existence to humanity.

To the rest of the Ikhtisas Committee members; Adida, Rohaizah, Faizal, Hasanah, Faridah, Aruna, Nik and Shamsul – a big THANK YOU for all the hard work and commitment.

Zanaria Saupi Udin
President
Ikhtisas Committee 2014/2016
University of Malaya Library