• Index of this issue

No. 98, August 2021

This article is a tribute to the late senior expert Akio Yasue - former Deputy Director General of the National Diet Library of Japan (NDL).

It is probably not only us—our colleagues at the National Library of Vietnam (NLV) were in shock to hear that Mr. Akio Yasue, former deputy director general of the NDL, former member of the IFLA Preservation and Conservation Standing Committee and former Chair of the Japan Library Association Preservation and Conservation Committee, suddenly passed away due to a serious illness in the last days of January—but also our colleagues from libraries around the world and the region, where he used to meet, lecture and share his knowledge and ideas. Those who have experience in the field of libraries will also be saddened by the news. For us, the memories of the image of our Japanese teacher, colleague and friend Akio Yasue during cooperation and working in Vietnam remains intact.

< Mr. Akio Yasue (right), Mr. Mitsuaki Amino (left)—deputy director general of the NDL at the time and author of the article at the NDL on the occasion of the business trip to Japan in 2015 >

Affinity from an invitation...

In the middle of the summer, 16 years ago (June 2006), Mr. Akio Yasue had his first visit to the NLV on the basis of an invitation of Mr. Pham The Khang—Director of the NLV at that time. The aim of this visit was to survey preservation activities of the NLV and to make suggestions for future improvement of its preservation activities.

A year later, in November 2007, Mr. Akio Yasue visited the NLV for the second time. The visit was mainly for discussion with the staff of the Preservation Division on various preservation issues and for conducting condition surveys of modern Vietnamese book collections. The workshop "Conservation and preservation in libraries" was held during that time at the NLV with lectures and experience sharing by him. This trip was to work together with the NLV and also to be the honored guest of the NLV on the occasion of its 90th anniversary of establishment.

In April 2009, Mr. Akio Yasue returned to Vietnam to attend the 14th Congress of Librarians of Southeast Asia (CONSAL) as a keynote speaker on document preservation. On this occasion, the NLV invited him to lecture at a workshop on preservation for more than 30 departments of public, specialized and university libraries, as well as research and archive agencies in Vietnam.

Valuable lessons about perspective, professional knowledge

It can be said that the time spent studying, working and talking directly with Mr. Akio Yasue has given us a lot of valuable knowledge and experience in preservation work. To have an overview of this activity, advanced survey methods were developed by Mr. Yasue to apply at the NLV which includes the building of 1) an environment of conservation, 2) condition of collections, 3) conservation treatments reformatting, 4) organization and staff, and 5) collaboration and cooperation, in order for the NLV to take appropriate preservation and conservation measures in the years to come. That survey is not only essential to the NLV but also it would be an important basis of preservation programs of other libraries in Vietnam.

Based on the analysis of survey data, Mr. Yasue proposed a quite detailed plan for the future development of preservation work of the NLV, which was for the short and medium-term plan, and also showed how it has learned from the world trend of library preservation.

Samples of the NLV restoration materials being used were also collected and sent to the testing center in Tokyo for evaluation and quality control. In addition, during his visits to Vietnam, he also offered the NLV a number of insect trap sets according to the IPM (Integrating Pest Management) guideline as well as pH test pencils and pH indicator strips.

We worked together intensively and attentively to solve the complications we were encountering, especially the disaster preparation, digital projects, environmental control and human resources. The key element of improvement and advancement of preservation issues is the library staff. It is important, above all, to help the staff's improvement of skill and knowledge.

It has been almost 15 years but his views and visions since 2006-2007 up to now still remain the same core values, such as the digital library program which plays a vital role in contemporary libraries. One should bear in mind that the digital library initiatives and the preservation program are not two independent endeavors but very often combined programs... Preservation and access are two sides of the same coin. When digitizing these rare and essential collections, one should consider the conservation of original items, in particular, environmental considerations, protective enclosure, storage and handling...

An image of a respectable and humble person

The memories, valuable lessons, enthusiasm, thoughtfulness and sense of responsibility that Mr. Akio Yasue showed through the working sessions and business trips at the NLV are profound and unforgettable. The image of him—a man of respect, dignity, and humility—is also what motivates us to write this gratitude article. He manifests the qualification of a true librarian, an example of determination, passion for the job and kindness. With his contributions to the development of the field of library preservation in particular and the cultural sector of Vietnam in general, in 2009, Mr. Akio Yasue was honored with the noble medal "For the cause of Culture, Sports and Tourism" awarded by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam.

The East has a saying "People only truly die when they are no longer living in the hearts of others." We believe that Mr. Akio Yasue will always be present in the hearts of his family, friends and colleagues, including us—librarians from Vietnam who will always cherish our time with him.

< Mr. Akio Yasue (left) and Mr. N. Varaprasad—NLB's Chief Executive of Singapore—received the Medal "For the cause of Culture, Sports and Tourism" awarded by leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam in 2009 >