"It's hip to be a librarian"

From "It's hip to be a librarian" by Rachel Barawid (Manila Bulletin, 27 August 2009):

Librarians are old-fashioned boring nerds, unapproachable old maids or widowers -- not!

Today's new breed of librarians have broken free from those dank and dusty school libraries, the century-old stereotypes, and have evolved into dynamic, progressive and most-sought after career people employed by large corporations, IT companies, hospitals and law firms.

We need more articles like this. Maybe publicity efforts can be stepped up in time for the showing of In My Life...

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Case Closed: The Case of the Pilfered Documents

The decision has been handed down, as scheduled, on "The Case of the Pilfered Documents at the National Library":

In Moral's case, the court ruled that the prosecution failed to establish that there was "unlawful taking" of the documents stored in Vaults 1 and 2 of the FAD's rare manuscripts section.

The former FAD chief, who was charged with taking 51 items from the vaults to which she had access, claimed the allegedly missing documents were inadvertently placed with her personal belongings when she moved to the Catalogue Division Office in July 1993 [...]

Since the prosecution had fallen short of producing the required quantum of proof, the court said Moral was presumed innocent and must therefore be set free.

"This leaves the court with no option but to acquit Moral for insufficiency of evidence, at the very least, on reasonable doubt," said the court.

The judgment seems reasonable, but it seems unlikely that the one found guilty acted alone. In the meantime, many documents remain missing. I've complained before that there is no copy of the Philippine Declaration of Independence on government websites (but I did find one on another site), and have since been informed that the original could not be produced during the centennial. Now, almost 110 years after Filipinos declared independence from Spain, I wonder whether this unique document could have been one of those stolen over the years...

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The Case of the Pilfered Documents at the National Library

From "Court set to decide on National Library pilferage of historical documents" by Aries Rufo (Abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak, 26 May 2008):

The case basically began as a power struggle between [Maria Luisa] Moral and [Adoracion] Bolos shortly after the latter assumed as acting director [of the National Library] in 1992.

Bolos, a former chief of the Filipiniana and Asia division herself in the 70s, sought an inventory of rare books and manuscripts shortly after she assumed as acting director of the Library. Bolos created an external committee to conduct an independent inventory at the FAD.

However, in an exchange of memos between Moral and Bolos, Moral, then the chief of the division, objected to the move, saying it was just a "waste of management" and "not in the interest of the service." She also questioned the external committee’s creation, saying it was merely meant "to harass the FAD, which did not support you in your quest for the directorship."

There is more to this case than meets the eye. It is misleading—and unfortunate—that the case is portrayed as a power struggle that just happened to reveal that documents were being stolen from the National Library. As far as I can tell from the old reports I've read, the pilferage was already taking place in the 1970s—and maybe even earlier. Here's hoping the judge lays out all the facts in her decision and we get to read it in its entirety.

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UP SLIS Graduation 2008

From "Custodians of wealth and power" by Celia Adriano (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2008):

In his book, “Teacher and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920,” Larry Cuban noted that even with so much money invested in technology, only 2 of every 10 teachers are serious users of computers in their classroom and 3 to 4 are occasional users (about once a month). The rest never use the machines for instruction.

This is the beginning of an article that is obviously from a speech read at the commencement exercises of the UP School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS). It was probably edited to fit the space available, which may have caused some of the problems I raise here, but I doubt it.

Because of the way it began, I thought the article was going to go into the digital divide, but it ended up being about the personal qualities needed "to meet the challenges of serving our people as an information professional." I suppose this just goes to show that there are limits to what can actually be said at a commencement address. More unforgivable, in my opinion, is the fact that she got the old and new names of UP SLIS wrong. The worst, however, is the constant reference to "he." While I wish there were more male librarians, the reality is very different, as the photo above shows. The female author is obviously not a feminist.

By the way, congratulations to the new graduates!

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Of Budgets, Leadership and the National Library

Below are links to a few articles you may have missed, plus my comments.

Public libraries don't get enough funding. From "Public library gets budget for repair, new books" (Cebu Daily News, 20 February 2008)

For the first time, the Mandaue City Public Library is getting a budget to buy new reading materials and repair the building.

Acting librarian Marrieta Orque expressed relief that the government has allocated a budget for the purchase of new books for the library.

It's good news of course, but it's really sad that the fact that the library was allotted a budget, which is taken for granted elsewhere, is considered newsworthy. If Orque, as the article reports, has been with the library for 20 years, does this mean that the library has been operating without a budget all that time? Probably not... but I wouldn't be surprised, either, if the answer is "yes."

A town in Leyte seems to be in better shape. From "Poor town has modern library" by Joey Gabieta (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 21 January 2008):

This sleepy agricultural town has what other municipalities in the province lack—a modern and fully air-conditioned library.

Credit goes to its young mayor, Bernard Jonathan Remandaban, who said his "bias" for education was the main driver for the construction of a two-story library building on a one-hectare lot that was once a swampy area at the town center.

What's the difference? It's obvious that the town has a leader who thinks libraries are important. I don't really like the fact that no mention is made of the librarian (I certainly hope they hired one), but a new library building is certainly much more welcome news.

And then there's the National Library of the Philippines. From a column by Wilson Lee Flores (Philippine Star, 21 January 2008):

I urge the state to build more public libraries and to rebuild our National Library, instead of more waiting sheds, basketball courts or cock-fighting pits. Why is it that a private-sector bookstore like Fully Booked in The Fort is nicer than our republic’s so-called "National Library," which I believe should be renamed "National Disgrace"!

There is, of course, a simple answer: the private sector has more money than the state. And the state has never really considered libraries a priority. So I wouldn't really count on the government allotting a budget for libraries. My suggestion? Get the private sector involved (e.g., naming rights), but before that can be done, we need leaders!

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Immobile Libraries

From "Goodbye, book card" by Roy Lu (Cebu Daily News, 13 December 2007):

I do not know whether local school libraries have now adopted Internet technologies for archiving, tracking or accessing books or other materials, or if they have remained as they have ever since the library card, the index card and the identification card were developed as the tripod that supported the entire library’s functioning.

I doubt it. I doubt even more that public libraries – where? – have been brought up to speed. I bet they would still be up on the speed they have always moved at: immobile.

I’m reminded of this quaint little immobile library I stumbled into one afternoon (a Sunday, I guess) in Bantayan town. It must have had some sign announcing itself or I wouldn’t have recognized it because, aside from that, it was just like any ordinary house in the town center. And then, this I’m sure of, it was closed.

I wish I could say that he doesn't know what he's talking about, but he's actually just confirming what I have noted in the past. People don't know where public libraries, if any, are located. And if they do find them, libraries are more likely to be closed.

I wish I had a brilliant suggestion to improve our public library system, but I don't. I'm not even working as a librarian right now and will be leaving the country in two weeks, so all I can do is call attention to Lu's article, and hope that our library leaders read it and are moved to do something about the public's perception of our libraries.

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Disconnects in Education: Women and Boys

The following are the 3 parts of a series, plus a related article, by Juan Miguel Luz (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 26-28 November 2007):

System-wide solutions needed, not band-aids
Teachers subsidizing pupils’ needs
Larger number of boys than girls drop out by Grade 5
Pockets of hope for Muslim schoolchildren

I've linked in the past to quite a few articles by and about Luz, a former DepEd undersecretary, because I support his cause and the articles make sense. These new articles are no exception. I do have a problem, however, with the following:

When boys and girls grow up, they will tend toward marriage. Given today’s economy and lifestyle, chances are both husband and wife will have to work. Given the likelihood that the wife has a better or more complete education, chances are she will have a more steady and better paying job.

Our society, however, is male-oriented. We recognize the husband as the head of household even if the wife may be the real breadwinner. How will these two realities square? I fear that in many cases, there will be underlying tensions that will result in increasing problems of domestic violence and spousal abuse.

Thus, it is important to keep boys in school to give them a chance at finishing, moving on to college, and/or getting jobs that provide adequate pay and fulfillment.

I suspect feminists will have something to say about the author's gender bias, but the way I see it, if boys don't want to go to school, that's their problem. I am a man who has worked in fields dominated by women (i.e., banking, teaching, librarianship), and I say that women deserve whatever they've achieved because they worked for it. I can still remember how awed I was at some of my colleagues who juggled so many tasks at work and at home, and still managed to stay beautiful. And all their husbands did was worry about going to work.

Encouraging girls to go to school in the past may have been justified, but only because girls were previously discouraged from going to school. Well, it's not the same situation with the boys today. If the boys decide not to go to school and become wife-beaters, my guess is that the women will, by then, be more than educated enough to deal with boys.

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Do Pinoys Read at All?

From "Do Pinoys read at all?" by Queena Lee-Chua (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 25 November 2007):

Early this year, the NBDB commissioned the Social Weather Stations to do a second Readership Survey (the first was done in 2003)... First, the bad news. Generally, the survey shows that reading has slightly declined in our nation...

Perhaps more readers prefer to read media other than print, such as the Net. Perhaps others turn to other types of entertainment, such as TV. Perhaps the cost of books has become prohibitive for most of us.

The survey does not analyze the reasons why, but the research team offers some recommendations. "The challenge is for booksellers and publishers, printers and paper and ink manufacturers, to make more books affordable. The government can facilitate this, as well as the financing of technology upgrades to make operations more efficient and economical."

"Authors are also challenged to write more books, not just to entertain, but also to inform, to teach the readers skills or to convey to them practical knowledge. Community libraries [should encourage] adults and out-of-school youth to like to read books; and educators, to teach students to read longer materials, such as books."

I will be there when the 2007 Readership Survey results are presented to the public on November 28. Aside from the fact that I'd like to know more about the results, I think I'd like to ask why it is that the recommendations name practically all the people in the life cycle of the book (e.g., authors, publishers, educators), but mentions only the role of libraries and not librarians.

Does this imply that libraries can encourage reading even without the involvement of librarians? Maybe it was a Freudian slip. Maybe there are, in fact, just too many invisible librarians =)

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Money is Not the Solution

Earlier today, I was looking for a friend at my alma mater when I suddenly found my underdressed self at a formal, invitation-only event honoring some recipients of the Metrobank Foundation's annual Search for Outstanding Teachers. When I learned that I personally knew the two main honorees—Ambeth Ocampo and Benilda Santos—I thought, what the heck, maybe they'll overlook my shirt-jeans-and-sneakers getup and appreciate my presence at this special event. So I went in and marveled once more at just how lucky I've been to have been taught by so many outstanding teachers.

But the most striking thing that I brought home with me was the reference made by the university president to a recent article about a McKinsey study that shows it is not money that leads to better schools. I, of course, made a mental note to look for the article. The following quotes are from "How to be top" (Economist, 13 October 2007):

Australia has almost tripled education spending per student since 1970. No improvement. American spending has almost doubled since 1980 and class sizes are the lowest ever. Again, nothing. No matter what you do, it seems, standards refuse to budge.

Schools... need to do three things: get the best teachers; get the best out of teachers; and step in when pupils start to lag behind.

Begin with hiring the best. There is no question that, as one South Korean official put it, "the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers." Studies in Tennessee and Dallas have shown that, if you take pupils of average ability and give them to teachers deemed in the top fifth of the profession, they end up in the top 10% of student performers; if you give them to teachers from the bottom fifth, they end up at the bottom. The quality of teachers affects student performance more than anything else.

You might think that schools should offer as much money as possible, seek to attract a large pool of applicants into teacher training and then pick the best. Not so, says McKinsey. If money were so important, then countries with the highest teacher salaries—Germany, Spain and Switzerland—would presumably be among the best. They aren't. In practice, the top performers pay no more than average salaries.

Scratch a teacher or an administrator (or a parent), and you often hear that it is impossible to get the best teachers without paying big salaries... McKinsey's conclusions seem more optimistic: getting good teachers depends on how you select and train them; teaching can become a career choice for top graduates without paying a fortune; and that, with the right policies, schools and pupils are not doomed to lag behind.

What has this got to do with the Philippine situation, especially libraries? Read the passages again, but this time substitute the word "librarian" for "teacher" and "librarianship" for teaching, particularly in the last two paragraphs. As I have written before in "Librarians as Leaders," "I am not saying that money is not important... two individuals given similar amounts of money will not necessarily achieve similar goals." This is not rocket science. This is so old, there's even a parable in the Bible about it. Enough of the excuses. Let's get to work.

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Librarian Promotes Reading

From "Storytellers reach, touch hearts of kids" by Ma. Cecilia Rodriguez (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 4 November 2007):

"We are still trying to solicit more (reading materials)," librarian Arlene de Guma said.

To inspire the children to read and understand what they read, they allow even nonreaders to take home the materials for three days so that the parents can read along with them, De Guma said.

"We also encourage the parents to volunteer as storytellers," she said.

The article still sounds like a press release, but at least it's clear that the library has a librarian. To see why this is important to me, see "Librarian-less Libraries are Just Buildings" and an old post that reminds me of the many promises I haven't kept: "Invisible Libraries."

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How Do You Build a Library?

Two contrasting articles are in today's Manila Bulletin (26 September 2007): "Book value" by Ronald Lim and "Building libraries by the book," whose lack of a credited author indicates that it's a press release.

The first article is about how the group led by Troy Lacsamana encourages communities to develop their own libraries:

"Our formula for building libraries is that we want our partners to be the one to bring it up. We want the initiative to come from them," says Lacsamana. "The partners are the ones volunteering their people for the library. That way, the volunteers really want to be part of the project and the barangay chairmans support the project. The only thing we ask from people who want us to set up a library for them is for them to have the commitment and passion for our advocacy."

The second is about how lucky a public school is that a corporate foundation deigned to give them books:

In most public schools, it is common for four students to share one textbook while other schools do not have the benefit of existing libraries. Thus, in 1999, National Book Store, with Anvil Publishing Inc. and the Reading Association of the Philippines (RAP), started the Buklat-Aklat Mobile Library project to provide impoverished public school children (ages 5 to 12) access to books. The project led to the birth of the National Bookstore Foundation Inc. in 2005, which continues to seek ways to address the urgent problem of illiteracy in the country.

I have nothing against corporate foundations donating books, but I do have a problem when press releases suggest that all that's needed to start and sustain libraries are books. It is not that simple, and that's why the approach espoused by Lacsamana in the first article must be examined—at the very least—by those who want to build community libraries.

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Ambeth Ocampo on Ateneo's Rizal Library

Two years ago, I wrote a post entitled "Ateneo's Rizal Library," which I would follow up a month later with "One More Time: Ateneo's Rizal Library." Well, Ambeth Ocampo just wrote a column with the exact same title: "Ateneo's Rizal Library" (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 21 September 2007). Ocampo, of course, writes from a different perspective, that of a library user:

The Filipiniana section is still in the same place, though the collection is larger and the staff has correspondingly grown bigger. When I used to frequent the place, I knew where I could find the books I needed even without looking. Even today the librarians would laugh when I ask for a book, describing its size, shape and color.

He mentions other libraries, too, but I'm sure his librarian-friends at those institutions will be wondering when he'll be giving their libraries the same treatment =)

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Lost Libraries

The history of Philippine libraries has been told a few times, but either the accounts went unpublished, appeared in obscure journals, or were printed in such limited quantities that they are now out of print. Fortunately, Ambeth Ocampo occasionally mentions what happened to Philippine libraries in the past. From "Lost Books" (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2007):

The Philippine Library and Museum that boasted the finest collection of Filipiniana in its time was one of the casualties of the Battle for Manila in 1945. The late historian Teodoro Agoncillo related how he had packed his most important books and brought them to the University of the Philippines Library at the outbreak of the war, assuming that the enemy would respect an academic institution. Many other scholars and collectors, like Jaime C. de Veyra and E. Arsenio Manuel, felt the same way and deposited their precious libraries in UP, only to watch helplessly as the Japanese made a bonfire from their books.

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Danton Remoto for Congress

In "Danton Remoto: A fabulous run for Congress" by Ricky Gallardo (Sunday Times Magazine, 6 May 2007), Remoto explains why he is entering the world of politics:

Because you cannot just complain and do nothing concrete. We are great talkers but bad workers. Because government gives you access to resources that can be used to change people’s lives. Like in District 3, there are health centers, but why do the doctors work only half-day, if at all? Why are there no medicines readily available? Why do five students share one textbook? Why do the barangay libraries exist when the shelves have no books? Why are the day-care centers closed? Why are the informal settlers mired in poverty and hopelessness? (emphasis added)

The answers to his questions, if you read the article, are clearly not just due to lack of money. After all, Remoto has gained the lead in his district—and even national recognition—without spending millions on advertising that other candidates have thrown at the TV networks.

But I've written about money and leadership before, so I'll just ask a question: If a library has no books, is it really a library? Remember, though, that the libraries Remoto refers to do not have electronic subscriptions or collections; they would be lucky to have even one computer. Perhaps someone like Remoto—who writes books, teaches literature, uses libraries and has worked as a publisher—can make a difference. I wish I were home so I could vote for him.

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Changing Library Environments

The three articles below illustrate the differences I've observed between libraries I've visited in Singapore and North America, and those in the Philippines. The first refers to a library that bears more of a resemblance to a mall than a traditional library, while the second laments the fact that silence is not observed in libraries anymore. The last one reminded me that I never actually got to use inter-library loan (ILL) services in the Philippines, that I've been quite delighted that I can get just about any book in North America for free via ILL, and that the United Kingdom is shifting more and more to a fee-based model.

Which of the changes described in the articles below have occurred at your library? Which ones would you like to see?

"Libraries at the Cutting Edge" by Pamela Snelson (Inside Higher Ed, 29 March 2007)

The trendiest meeting place on many college campuses these days features a coffee bar, wireless Internet zones, free entertainment and special programs, modern lounge areas and meeting rooms. And free access to books. Lots of books. This educational social hub is the campus library, which is beginning to look more like an Internet café than the academic library you remember from your college days.

"'Shhh' -- the one thing you won't hear in a library" by Sarah Miller (Los Angeles Times, 10 April 2007)

These days, libraries sound a lot less like libraries and a lot more like the line for the funnel cake booth at a county fair. Teenagers are the most egregious offenders, but they are not, sadly, alone. In this same library, two soccer moms discussed their respective trips to Hawaii in voices at least as loud as they'd have used at each other's kitchen tables, which is where — pity the fiery pits of hell were not available — their rendezvous should have taken place. A young man in Diesel jeans obsessively checked his voice mail on speakerphone.

"What Goes Around" by Susanna Ashton (Chronicle of Higher Education, 14 March 2007)

My realization came at the interlibrary loan desk... The librarian brought out 10 books for me, and I handed him my campus identification card, expecting I would check out the books, and that would be that. Instead, he asked me very pleasantly for 20 voucher tokens. I looked at him blankly and explained that I was a visiting faculty member with the English department and was authorized to check out books... It turned out that he was essentially asking me to pay about $200 in interlibrary-loan fees.

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Books for the Barrios Faces Financial Crisis

From "Literacy Effort Faces Financial Crisis" by Leslie Brinkley (ABC7, 20 March 2007):

Books for the Barrios has established 1,000 classrooms in the Philippines and even four floating libraries to reach kids on remote islands. But donations evaporated in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Books for the Barrios is now in crisis.

Nancy Harrington: "It will close if we do not get some substantial funding. We operate on $102,000 dollars a year and we need $60,000 dollars by July in order to keep this place open."

Note: This was taken from a transcript of a news report. You can watch the video here.

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Remember the USIS Libraries 2

Someone at the Manila Times seems to really care for libraries. Last January, it had an editorial that mentioned the USIS libraries. Last month, it had a more explicit one, again mentioning the USIS libraries. From "Balikatan changes course" (Manila Times, 22 February 2007):

Few Philippine cities and towns boast of a public library. The law calling for the establishment of a library in every town remains a scrap because the municipal governments do not have the money or the interest for a reading center. The National Library in Manila, modest by world standards, has not found a respectable copy on the islands.

Most school libraries are wanting in reading materials. The newest books, the latest newspapers and the basic texts cannot be found in their premises.

There was a time in the 50s and 60s when the most popular American institution in the Philippines was not the US Embassy but the USIS (US Information Service) Library. The library moved several times—in places like the Escolta and Santa Mesa—but members and bibliophiles by the thousands followed it and used its facilities wherever it traveled.

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Ambeth Ocampo on Librarians

From "Librarians" by Ambeth Ocampo (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 9 March 2007):

It is unfortunate that people have prejudged certain types of work, like those of librarians, teachers and even historians, as "boring" professions. Worse, there is a stereotype image of an uptight, four-eyed woman like the comic book’s "Miss Tapia" who spends her time scolding, or silencing students and library users.

I have known many eminent librarians, including our National Librarian Prudenciana Cruz who is several kilos heavier than Miss Tapia, or the University of the Philippines’ librarian Salvacion Arlante who has the same eyeglasses and demeanor but not the hair-do. Then there are the librarians at the Lopez Museum and the Ateneo Rizal Library, both young ones and “young once,” who do not fit the stereotype.

What can I say? After writing about the need to hire librarians for libraries, I discovered that the highest-ranking friend of Filipino librarians just devoted a column to our profession. There are some gentle jabs and overly-optimistic generalizations, but overall, this column should be much more effective in promoting our profession than the one by the useless what's-his-name =)

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Librarian-less Libraries are Just Buildings

From a press release:

Senator Ralph Recto wants 60 libraries to be established next year to be named after noted Filipino writers, saying these facilities would not only honor deceased writers but also encourage the youth and adults alike to develop a passion for reading.

Recto’s proposal comes in the wake of the finding that three in every four recent elementary school graduates cannot read without assistance.

I applaud the intention of building libraries and the desire to honor writers and promote reading, but I do not see how erecting libraries, by themselves, will encourage Filipinos to "develop a passion for reading." It would probably be more effective for Recto to ask his wife Vilma Santos to join the Get Caught Reading campaign.

The less popular—but more effective, in my biased opinion—initiative that Recto can push is to highlight the importance of hiring competent librarians for all existing public school libraries and those he wants to set up; librarians who will not just keep the books in order, but reach out to their communities to promote reading and literacy. Just as the Senate is not merely a repository of laws, libraries are not just buildings full of books. And just as not all senators are worthy of the name, not everyone who works in a library is, in fact, a librarian.

Libraries with "librarians" who just happen to be relatives or friends of the appointing authorities, but with no knowledge of what professional librarians actually do, will very likely discourage—not encourage—reading. Libraries without librarians who care about their communities and books will just be a waste of time, space, effort and money.

So go ahead, build the libraries, name them after writers, but don't forget to hire the librarians who will manage the libraries, attract readers and make sure that those readers know who the writers are. Oh, and remember to mention the need for librarians in your press releases.

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Cynthia Aninao — Filipino Librarian

From "Cynthia Aninao had careers as law librarian, nurse" by Rebecca Goodman (Cincinnati Enquirer, 2007):

Cynthia F. Aninao, head of technical services at the Robert S. Marx Library at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, died Sunday of pneumonia at University Hospital... Ms. Aninao recently directed the processing of the 60,000-volume Alfred K. Nippert law book collection, which was donated to the library last year... A native Cincinnatian, Ms. Aninao was the oldest child of Juan and Mariquita Aninao, who immigrated to the United States from the Philippines after World War II.

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