EduAsiaNews, Singapore — The Library of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) is charting its course toward a new landscape of knowledge management. One concrete step in this direction was marked by the participation of the Head of the UMY Library, Novy Diana Fauzie, SS, MA, in the TULLIP (Transforming University Libraries Leadership & Innovation Programme) organized by the National University of Singapore (NUS), held on January 5–10, 2026, in Singapore.
This international fellowship program brought together leaders of university libraries from various countries across the ASEAN region and beyond, including Egypt and the United States. The forum served as a platform for sharing best practices, discussing common challenges, and formulating strategies for library transformation amid rapid changes in technology and user behavior.
For Novy, international networking was one of the most valuable aspects of the TULLIP program. Interacting with library heads from diverse backgrounds opened opportunities for cross-institutional collaboration while offering new perspectives on the complexities of modern library management.
“The networking experience was extraordinary. We met many people and learned many things. In the future, we may invite them as resource persons at university library forums as well as within the Muhammadiyah library network,” she said in an online interview on Wednesday, December 7.
Discussions during the forum covered a range of strategic issues, including library management systems, the dynamics of changing government regulations, human resource management, budget constraints, and the acceleration of digital technology adoption. Novy noted that despite differences in national contexts, the challenges faced by university libraries around the world are strikingly similar.
One of the main focuses of the TULLIP program was the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the higher education ecosystem. Novy emphasized that AI should be positioned as a learning tool rather than a replacement for human reasoning.
“AI is a tool, not the main driver. In fact, AI helps our brains keep working. We are not just learning AI, but using AI to learn better and think more critically,” she explained.
This perspective aligns with UMY’s policy of integrating the use of AI into compulsory core courses at the university. In this context, libraries play a strategic role in supporting the policy, particularly through strengthening information literacy and digital literacy among the academic community.
On the first day of the fellowship, participants received a presentation from NUS Library Director Natalie Pang, who highlighted library leadership in the midst of technological disruption. The presentation reflected on how technology—including AI—is transforming not only systems, but also the behavior of librarians, lecturers, and students in accessing and utilizing information.
The second day was filled with in-depth discussions on information literacy and AI literacy. Participants were encouraged to understand that AI literacy goes beyond technical skills and must be directed toward developing critical, ethical, and responsible thinking in the use of technology.
In addition to seminars and panel discussions, the TULLIP program also included field visits and mini-case presentations from each participant on projects and innovations implemented in their respective institutional libraries. These practices serve as important references for the future development of the UMY Library.
“There’s a lot of homework after returning from here. But it’s positive homework, because we’re bringing home many references and inspirations on how libraries can be managed as modern institutions that are adaptive to change,” Novy concluded.
Through its participation in this international fellowship, UMY reaffirmed its commitment to continuously presenting libraries as centers of learning, innovation, and literacy development that are relevant to global challenges in the digital age.
