Mr. Upali Amarasiri, was born on 28 February 1949 in Mapalagama, Galle and studied at G/Nagoda National School. He graduated in 1972 from University of Sri Lanka, Peradeniya with an honors degree in History. He obtained Diploma in Library and Information Science, and MA in Library and Information Science, from University Loughborough, UK in 1979 and 1980 respectively.
Mr. Amarasiri served the Department of History in University of Sri Lanka, Peradeniya as an Assistant Lecturer from 1973 to 1976 and served the Main Library of the same university as an Assistant Librarian from 1976 to 1977. He then joined the National Library and Documentation Services Board (NLDSB) of Sri Lanka in 1977 as an Assistant Director and served in this position until he was appointed as the Deputy Director in 1984. He continued to serve the NLDSB as the third Director/ Director General from 1989 to 2008 and he was also the Founder National Librarian of the country from 1990 to 2008. In February 2008 he joined NILIS as the Director and served two terms till February 2014. Mr. Amarasiri also served as the President of the Sri Lanka Library Association from 2009 to 2012 and is a well experienced and respected professional in the Library domain not only in Sri Lanka but also in the international context.
Under his leadership NILIS has achieved many developments including commencing Postgraduate Diploma and Masters in Information Management and several other programs. During this period facilities have been extended for working librarians in the country to enroll for higher studies at NILIS. Majority of mid-level librarians attached to Public, School, Special, Government, University and other library sectors receive their qualifications either from Sri Lanka Library Association (Diploma in Library and Information Science and the Associateship of SLLA) or from Kelaniya University (Higher Diploma in Library and Information Science). Commencing from 2011 NILIS has provided them with opportunities to follow postgraduate programmes in LIS field. Considering this and other merits, Sri Lanka Library Association awarded NILIS the ‘SLLA Award of Excellence’ in 2013. Another milestone is signing a MOU with the International School of Information Management (ISIM) of University of Mysore, India in 2012. It is expected to exchange students and staff with the ISIM and NILIS from 2014.