PDI: Imus City Public Library

Today's anniversary issue of Philippine Daily Inquirer 

featuring the program of the Imus City Public Library 

"Kwentuhan na sa Plaza... Mga Bata Tara na!"

Gabay Guro Train in LRT1: Book Themed Wallpapers

Promotion/marketing campaign for reading and library ...

Click HERE to read the fulltext of the Philippine Star article.

According to Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) president and CEO Juan Alfonso, the Gabay Guro Train is part of an initiative to promote reading and the love of books outside of the four walls of the classroom. It aims to raise awareness on the significance of education for students to achieve success. Click HERE to read the fulltext of the article from www.spot.ph

While the GMA network said. Only one LRT 1 train was decorated for the Gabay Guro Train project. More than 20 trains ply the LRT-1 system from Baclaran to Monumento and Quezon City. Click HERE to view the fulltext of the GMA Network article.

Time to Read [read: Establish Public School Libraries]

Bes, alam mo kaya papano sasagutin ang "concern" ni Ma'am? Di ba meron batas about establishing a barangay reading centers all over the Philippines, siguro napapanahon na din isulong pagsasabatas ng isang mandatory establishment of a public school library (or reading center/corner) para meron long-term solution sa inilatag na "concern" ni Ma'am? Ano sa tingin mo lodi?

A typical problem that had to be worked out was: Who among the faculty would assume responsibility for books handed to the school? The teachers refused to accept the additional accountability. And there was also the concern about the quality of books gathered from book drives.

Click the image file to read/redirected to the full article in PDI website.

Little Free Library Philippines

From Little Free Library Philippines fb page

Little Free Library Philippines is a volunteer organization dedicating itself to developing the culture of reading in the Philippine Context.

LFL Philippines is managed by a core of volunteers led by Miguel Z. Patolot with Jean Karl Gaverza, Zenaida Brandares, Chic Victoria, Flordeliz Patolot, Rose Nishikawa, Troy Lacsamana, Michelle Agas, Julie Aparato, and Portia Padilla, experts in the field of education and literacy.

LFL Philippines has to-date 27 stewards and 20 partners’ organization. The goal is to break the 1,000 LFLs target before the end of 2016, including pledges and commitments.

The LFL Philippines aims to be registered as an enterprise early in 2017 drawing from the experience of LFL in the last two-and-a-half years with sustainability as a goal.

LFL units are conceived to operate on their own taking into account location, resources and literacy needs.

The LFLs are mostly self-built with designs that adhere to the culture of where they are posted. An example of this trend is the LFLs built in the Philippine island of Batanes where the Ivatans, the indigenous people of Batanes, created their own LFLs based on the culture of the island.

Public and private schools likewise play a vital role in enhancing the LFL growth through the building of little libraries both in the classrooms and homes of the students.

The school serves as hubs for receiving books, grassroots publishing, storage centers, knowledge transfer, and forum among others. The school also serves as community center for adult learning.

This trend is expected to grow as schools, more than local government units, enhance their role as learning hubs for senior citizens, persons with disability and children in areas of conflict.

Contact us for details on how you can put up a Little Free Library in your community!

Filipino Librarian Featured at Adarna House

Click HERE to read the full feature at Adarna House website.

Mother and professional Rochelle Silverio works as a librarian at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela, a government-ran higher education institution in Metro Manila and as a lecturer on children’s and young adult books at the University of the Philippines’ School of Library and Information Science.

After finishing a bachelor’s degree, she had a training stint in a children’s library inside a shopping mall. Seeing how delighted children were in exploring the books available in their library made her decide to pursue librarianship as her profession. She then got her license, worked in a private school, and took a master’s degree in library and information science. And throughout her career, she is really glad that children nowadays have access to a variety of books, including those that reflect their own culture, such as Adarna House books.

The Importance of Reading Aloud to our Children

from Miami Herald

"While it is critical that parents talk to their children, reading aloud to them is just important. Kids hear most words when they are exposed to conversation. But in many cases, we tend to speak in verbal shorthand infused with jargon.

But books, like magazines and newspapers, contain sophisticated and complex language that use complete sentences. So it makes sense that a child who hears more sophisticated words has a giant advantage over a child who hasn’t heard those words.

In their own right, electronics have had a disturbing impact on reading. For many kids, when the choice is between a book and the Internet, the Internet wins. Screens are magical and the instant gratification they provide is addictive. The fact is, the more time spent in front of a screen, the less likely a child will be to open a book.

But when parents set limits on device time — and include themselves in that limit — there is more time for personal interaction, using board games or sharing a book together.

Books provide kids with literary opportunities to travel outside their small worlds to become aware of how others live. By reading books, children learn about others who don’t have the things they come to expect — people with real disadvantages. Books offer a wider worldview than most of us can ever hope to achieve in our daily lives. The more they read, the stronger the empathy concept becomes."

Read the full text of the article HERE.

International Book Giving Day 2016

From IBGD website

2nd National Conference of Children's Librarians

NCBD @ SM Supermalls

Call for Nomination - NBDB List

From NBDB

In its effort to promote the use of quality books and materials, the NBDB, in partnership with the Department of Education, will come up with a list of highly recommended supplementary books and materials. Teaming up with the Network of Outstanding Teachers and Educators (NOTED), the members of which are recipients of the Metrobank Foundation’s Outstanding Teacher Award, the NBDB invites publishers to submit to the NBDB books they would like to be considered in this list.

The deadline for submission is on 13 July 2012. See also the Guidelines on the NBDB's Highly Recommended Supplementary List and Nomination Forms.

Just wondering why NBDB only invite publishers to submit and not open it to the general public? Is it because of the fee that lowly paid librarians cannot afford? Or is it the NBDB or any of the proponent of this list think lowly of librarians that cursory reading of the guidelines didn't even mentioned the role of librarians can play "in making intelligent choices in the vetting of supplementary books and materials for use in their respective schools".

It seems the role of librarians can do "for achieving educational growth, for imparting information and for recording, preserving, and disseminating the nations cultural heritage" is far from the minds of our policy makers.

2nd National Seminar of the Book Talk Society

Helping Children Overcome Reading Difficulties

Source: Filipinas Heritage Library

Lim Advises Children to Read Books

News about libraries and reading in national newspapers are rare in our country. Seldom we find news mentioning our beloved profession and indirectly our importance in the achievement of a "reading culture". Thus, it is a welcome news that from time to time our elected local officials devoted some of their time in the promotion of public library services. Hopefully in the near future, concrete policy measures about public library services will be undertaken and a sustainable library program will be supported enthusiastically by our local governments.

Daily Tribune in the metro section and penned by Pat C. Santos bannered "Lim advises children to stay away from drugs by reading books".

In his desire to encourage children to appreciate reading, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim will open tomorrow, Feb. 19, the city-owned library in Pandacan and another in Bacood, Sta. Mesa on Feb. 25.

The libraries are stocked with books that were donated by individuals and organizations.

Lim said he expects to open more libraries in the other districts of the city.

“We want to provide children with another form of entertainment while educating them through reading instead of wasting their time in worthless ventures like begging, or worse, even drugs,” the mayor told the department heads during the regular Monday DEHECHO meeting.

The mayor stressed the importance of reading and literacy, especially among the elementary and high school students, to increase their chances of improving their lives when they grow older.

He directed the Office of City Librarian chief, Maria Gracia Gargantiel, to conceptualize a program to encourage children to read and go to the libraries this summer for their full enjoyment and optimum use of their vacation.

He met recently with officials of M/V Doulos led by Felipe Bouchat, the only floating library in the world which is committed to bring new books and its crew to outreach missions in the poorest communities of Tondo, particularly Parola and the Baseco Compound at Port Area.

Doulos seeks to address the growing need to enhance the educational system so that students can cope with modern technology while enriching their reading comprehension skills.

Lim said children who can read well are able to grow up as skilled professionals and responsible citizens in the future.

Books and Schools : Partners in Education

The paper delivered by Dr. Patricia B. Licuanan entitled "Books and Schools : Partners in Education" during the Books Across Southeast Asia conference held last August 28, 2007 at the Bayview Park Hotel, Manila was available online at libro.ph (Thank you for uploading it).

Her very informative paper from "a psychologist, an educator, and a parent" point of view of books and reading is a very welcome perspectives. The quote below keeps me thinking:

"Love for reading begins at a very young age. Once children learn to love reading, a lifelong habit is established. Cullinan (1992) talks about the success cycle of reading. The more children read (practice), the better they read (proficiency). The better they read, the more they enjoy reading (pleasure), making them want to read more (back to practice). Reading leads to increased vocabulary and facility with words and expression. Wide readers are better speakers, writers and listeners in other words better communicators".

Just wondering if Filipino librarians still find time to read good books outside our almost routine library task of acquiring new library materials, cataloging it, indexing articles, manning the circulation services, planning library promotion activities, attending meetings (e.g. Academic Council, Faculty, Department, Association, etc.), supervising staff, preparing budgets & reports, troubleshooting IT infrastructure and other myriad task we deal on a daily basis. Methinks, we normally read a lot of book titles daily but never bothered to read or skim/scan the content especially during cataloging if CIP or Library of Congress bibliographic information is available for copy cataloging. I even don't know if we devote "enough time" to learn about emerging technologies that can be of good use in accomplishing our jobs in the near future.

Equally disturbing fact cited in Dr. Licuanan paper,

"nationwide survey of Filipino youth by McCann Erickson (Philippine Business Magazine, 2001) reported that during free time, 88% watch TV, 73% listen to the radio, 50% read books, 37% use the internet and 12% use cell phones".

Our youth of today spend more time watching TV, listening to radio than reading books. Although 50% is still high then but with the proliferation of internet cafe and fancier cellphone models capable of accessing the net, I wonder if 2007 figures have already eroded this lead. See also Hermie de Leon survey result of the future of Philippine media used as take-off point of Ma'am Nera lecture during the MIBF forum.

Maybe Pulse Asia or SWS would care to do a more detailed survey of reading habits of Filipinos. National Bookstore the other new bookstore chain in the country plus some local publishers could underwrite the cost of doing this timely survey. Every educational institution/stakeholder may find the result instructive in crafting timely intervention to arrest the continuing decline of our educational competitiveness and the general reading competency of our youth.