WHEREAS, Republic Act No. 9246 declares that "The State recognizes the essential role of librarianship as a profession in developing the intellectual capacity of the citizenry thus making library service a regular component for national development";
WHEREAS, Epifanio de los Santos, national hero and former director of the National Library, was born on April 7, 1871;
WHEREAS, it is important that said event be observed with meaningful and appropriate activities;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, vonjobi—citizen, licensed librarian, and self-appointed blograrian of the Republic of the Philippines—by virtue of the powers not vested in me by the Constitution or any library organization, for that matter, do hereby declare that April 7 of every year shall, henceforth, be known as "Epifanio de los Santos Day."
This day will be observed—if not by anyone else, then at least in this blog—by telling or reproducing a story about a living Filipino librarian doing her/his job well. On this occasion, however, the story will be about Epifanio de los Santos himself.
From Filipinos in History:
He was born on April 7, 1871, in Malabon, Rizal, the only son of Escolastico de los Santos and Antonia Cristobal... On May 16, 1925, he was appointed as a director of Philippine Library and Museum by Governor Leonard Wood...If you know a Filipino librarian whose story should be told on "Epifanio de los Santos Day" next year, please feel free to let everyone know by clicking on "Comments" below this post.
One day a reader went to the library to read something on Concepcion Bagay, the first Filipino Cartographer. He approached Don Epifanio and told him what he wanted. Knowing perhaps that the visitor was unfamiliar with the Filipiniana Division, Don Epifanio went personally to look for [the] materials he needed and readily handed them to the visitor. The library employees were amazed at the ease and exactness with which he pulled out the bundles that contain[ed] the desire[d] information. He was asked why he did not ask his clerks to look up the materials. He answered: "all of us here are servants of the reading public. I am the head of the servant[s] and I must show that I know better than any of the servant[s] where the materials are found. I want to show that our service here is efficient and that we are really working to serve.”
Related post: Epifanio de los Santos
Biographies:
Filipinos in History
Pipol... and their legacy
Aguador: Part I Part II
