About Catherine Lau

Catherine is the Assistant Chief Executive of the Public Library Group of NLB (National Library Board) since Apr 2015. She oversees operation of 26 public libraries, planning and development of new libraries, as well as content and programming to promote Readers for Life – the vision of NLB.

Prior to her present posting in NLB, Catherine was the Director of Strategic Planning Division at the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) since June 2010. Among other aspects of work, she also oversaw policies in library and learning. While at MCI, Catherine worked closely with NLB in developing the Library of the Future Master Plan, which was approved in 2015. Her current focus is to lead the NLB team to implement this Master Plan and the National Reading Movement from 2015 - 2021.

Catherine believes that public libraries must transform themselves to keep up with the fast changes in the information landscape. Despite the prevalence of free information in the internet, public libraries can continue to be an endearing institution, providing greater value-added services and more customised information to the public. Her vision is embedded in the implementation of the Library of the Future Master Plan, which has seen 6 libraries revamped thus far between 2017 – 2018. Each library has seen tremendous increases in usage and customer satisfaction.