NUS Libraries’ Heritage Champions programme receives IFLA Marketing Award
NUS Libraries’ Temasek Foundation – NUS Heritage Champions (TF-NUS Heritage Champions) programme has been placed in the top 10 at the 2025 IFLA PressReader International Marketing Awards, out of a competitive field of over a hundred submissions. This prestigious award is given to libraries that demonstrate the most innovative marketing activity to increase awareness and usage of their offerings or services, through creative, results-oriented marketing projects or campaigns.
In acknowledgment of this achievement, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) invited NUS Libraries to present its pioneering project at the 89th World Library and Information Congress in Astana, Kazakhstan, themed “Uniting Knowledge, Building the Future”, in August this year.
TF-NUS Heritage Champions, a collaboration between Temasek Foundation, the National Heritage Board, and NUS Libraries, is a youth ambassador programme that empowers tertiary students to preserve Singapore's cultural heritage through digital innovation. The initiative provides comprehensive training in heritage documentation and digital preservation, culminating in an ideathon where participants propose community-based projects. Selected projects receive resources and mentorship support, enabling students to implement their ideas using cutting-edge technologies like immersive reality and generative artificial intelligence.
"Receiving the IFLA PressReader International Marketing Award is an affirmation of NUS Libraries’ commitment to advancing library marketing excellence through creativity and innovation," commented University Librarian, Associate Professor Natalie Pang. "It also validates our approach to fostering meaningful collaborations between educational institutions and stakeholders in the public, private and people sectors, creating impactful learning experiences in the cultural heritage domain for students across Singapore's higher education landscape.”
Sharing her motivations for initiating this project, Assoc Prof Pang said, "Growing up in a small island nation like Singapore means that life here has always been marked by rapid growth. That growth and modernisation may come with gaps when it comes to preserving and understanding our rich history and heritage.”
“Because of this, I've always wanted to create a platform where young minds can come together and connect with heritage through collections and the application of digital tools in innovative ways,” she added. “And that really is the driving reason behind the creation of the TF-NUS Heritage Champions programme."
