National Library Board picks PR partner

National Library Board (NLB) has appointed Weber Shandwick as its new PR partner effective immediately for the year. According to Gebiz, among the agencies vying for the account include Burson-Marsteller, Portland PR, and Redhill Communications.

With this appointment, Weber Shandwick will provide day-to-day PR consultancy and communications services support for NLB. NLB currently oversees 26 public libraries islandwide, as well as the National Library and the National Archives of Singapore. This is in addition to subsidiaries Asian Film Archive and NLB's corporate arm Library and Archives Solutions.

Vanessa Ho Nikolovski, managing director, Singapore and chair, client services, of Weber Shandwick Asia Pacific said the library holds a special place for the team, as many of the staff members first encountered the world through treasured books.

“Weber Shandwick is honoured to work with NLB, which has been the cornerstone of lifelong learning in Singapore for decades. We are proud to be NLB’s communications partner and support its evolution from a knowledge hub to a dynamic center at the heart of a digitalised community where knowledge comes to life and imaginations are sparked to create endless possibilities,” she added.

This news comes shortly after NLB appointed The Secret Little Agency (TSLA) as its lead creative agency. The appointment of a creative agency followed a closed-door pitch, and will see the agency’s first work rolling out in the next quarter until March 2020. TSLA is responsible for marketing the National Library and the National Archives of Singapore.

In addition, the agency is tasked with integrated creative duties that include an experiential, social and design scope to drive public awareness of both brands, and engage audiences on the work done by both the library and the archives. TSLA first started up in Singapore, and strengthened its presence in global markets through a partnership with Mother Holdings in 2017.