22 May 2026, Apia - As Pacific communities continue to face increasing environmental challenges and pressure from climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and disaster risks, the need for reliable information and knowledge management has become even more critical.
This places Librarians and Information Officers at the centre of the response to these rising environmental challenges.
At SPREP’s Vailima headquarters, SPREP Director General, Mr Sefanaia Nawadra, acknowledged the role of Librarians and Information Officers in Samoa, the Pacific region and around the world.
“The role of Librarians and Information Officers has become even more significant in these challenging times,” Mr Nawadra said.
“Librarians are no longer only custodians of books, they are facilitators of knowledge, digital access, research support and learning. This is essential in our collective effort to respond to the increasing environmental challenges before us.”
Amongst other key functions, Mr Nawadra said the research, collection and the storing of information and knowledge is one of most important roles for Librarians and Information Officers.
“You play such a crucial role in nurturing knowledge, and educating the communities, in an effort to make them custodians of such critical knowledge,” Mr Nawadra added.
The Director General of SPREP opened the two-day Environmental Information & Knowledge Management (EIKM) Workshop for Libraries in Samoa, on Wednesday.
Coordinated by the SPREP Knowledge Management Unit, the workshop held at the Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC), was attended by Librarians and Information officers from different schools in Samoa, the Nelson Memorial Library, the University of the South Pacific, Alafua campus and the National University of Samoa.
Representatives from the Ministry of Education and Culture as well as the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development were also present.
For two days, the participants shared experiences, strengthened environmental information access, explored practical library approaches and built collaboration in relation to their roles.
Day one focused on gender and environmental information (national, regional and global) and understanding key Environmental Information & Knowledge Management (EIKM) concepts. The participants were also briefed on accessing and use of the SPREP Virtual Library, and toured the SPREP Information and Knowledge Management Centre (IKMC).
SPREP Knowledge Manager, Ms Miraneta Williams-Hazelman said SPREP is extremely pleased to be able to bring together Librarians and Information Officers from around Samoa to collaborate and share ideas about their work.
“We are very pleased to bring together librarians and information officers from across Samoa to share experiences, strengthen professional connections, and explore practical ways libraries can better support environmental learning and access to information,” said Ms Williams-Hazelman.
“We hope participants will leave with greater confidence in using environmental information resources, practical ideas they can apply within their own institutions, and stronger networks for ongoing collaboration.”
Day 2 focused on navigating the SPREP Virtual Library and applying EIKM within school libraries, university libraries, and public libraries across Samoa.
Participants also heard virtually from Ms Lorin Pai, President of the Fiji Library Association and Regional Librarian for USP Library, who shared insights on emerging trends and challenges facing Pacific libraries, practical approaches to strengthening information literacy in resource-constrained settings, and examples of regional collaboration and innovation supporting library resilience and professional networking.