Dear HKLA members,

I shall retire at the end of this month and leave Hong Kong for another episode in my life, this time in the USA.

I have lived here for more than 31 years.  When I first arrived, coming as I did from two turbulent years of teaching in Mainland China,  I had no idea at all of the amazing developments about to be witnessed in the world of libraries, librarianship and information management.  At that time the profession in Hong Kong was very much in its infancy.
Professional training usually had to be sought overseas.  Filing catalogue cards and poring over indexes were some of our main daily routines.  Users were quiet and comparatively undemanding, and our libraries were somewhat isolated havens untouched by the world around them.

Today we are faced with challenges too numerous to mention individually.  Libraries have been thrust into the spotlight and our professional skills and ingenuity are constantly being put to the test in a world which is undergoing continual change.  Many of us are swamped with heavy workloads.  Almost daily we are bombarded with new ideas, new management
theories, new demands, new projects, new types of resources - and, as a result, new headaches.  We can hardly begin to know what will be expected of libraries and librarians in the not too distant future.

How we cope with this future depends very much on our ability to adapt to new circumstances.  Now more than ever before we must learn from and co-operate with each other, both locally and internationally.  We must share our expertise to create new solutions to better serve our users and to preserve and archive the world's information resources and knowledge, whatever their shape, size or method of delivery.  We must remain professionally alert and open to new ideas, wherever they come from.  The HKLA is an ideal forum for such exchanges and I hope you will continue to energetically support its programmes and activities and participate in its Council and Committees.

I have been privileged to work with many HKLA members, both within the Association and without, in a variety of different libraries and on many different committees and projects.  I have greatly appreciated your hard work, support and friendship over the years and will continue to follow with interest developments in the profession in Hong Kong and the personal careers of colleagues and friends.  I wish you all success, good health, happiness in the future.

If you would like to keep in touch, please e-mail me at:  hrullmr@hkucc.hku.hk.

I would love to hear from you.

Mary Leong
President, 1994, 1995.