National Book Week 2007

This year, National Book Week will be celebrated from November 26-30. The theme is "Family Literacy: Reading Begins with Us." Below are the activities scheduled for the week, followed by the programs for the Opening Ceremonies (November 26) and the Fellowship Luncheon (November 30).

Thanks to Susan Pador for the information.


ACTIVITIES

November 26

7:00 a.m.
Opening Ceremonies / Fun Walk / Book Character Parade
Venue: The National Library

1:00 p.m.
PATLS: LIS Wizard
Venue: Bulwagang E. de los Santos
The National Library

November 27

8:00–12:00
PAARL: Forum
Theme: Strengthening Interpersonal Skills & Service Attitudes Competencies for Library Staff
Venue: San Beda College

8:00–5:00
CLAPI Outreach Program: Storytelling / Book Giving / Puppet Show
Venue: Payatas, Quezon City

November 28–29

PPLLI: Seminar-Workshop
Theme: Public Librarians: Their Accountability in a Changing Library Environment
Venue: Bulwagang E. de los Santos
The National Library

November 30

10:00 a.m.
Fellowship Luncheon
Venue: Kamay Kainan, Trinoma, Quezon City

OPENING PROGRAMME
Venue: The National Library
November 26, 2007

Part I

7:00 A.M.
NBW FUN WALK AND BOOK CHARACTER PARADE
Assembly: The National Library Grounds

10:00 A.M.
Holy Mass
FR. PAUL MA. M. DE VERA, O.S.B.
Celebrant

Part II

11:00 A.M. OPENING PROGRAM
Venue: Bulwagang Epifanio de los Santos

National Anthem
The National Library Choir

Words of Welcome
MRS. PRUDENCIANA C. CRUZ
Director, The National Library

Opening Remarks
MRS. SUSIMA L. GONZALES
President, PLAI

Introduction of the Guest Speaker
MRS. REBECCA M. JOCSON
Chief Librarian, PLM

Keynote Address
ATTY. ADEL A. TAMANO
President, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

Intermission
The National Library Choir

Announcement of Contest Winners
MRS. FE E. ABELARDO
Chair, Special Projects Committee

Awarding of Winners
ATTY. ADEL A. TAMANO
MRS. PRUDENCIANA C. CRUZ
MRS. SUSIMA L. GONZALES

Closing Remarks
MISS BELEN M. VIBAR
Chair, 2007 Overall Co-Chair


MRS. SALVACION M. ARLANTE
Trustee, PLAI
Master of Ceremonies

FELLOWSHIP LUNCHEON
Venue: Kamay Kainan, Trinoma, Quezon City
November 26, 2007

9:30 a.m. REGISTRATION
10:30 a.m. PROGRAMME

Invocation & Blessing of the Food
FR. ANGEL APARICIO, O.P.
Prefect of Libraries, UST

National Anthem
MRS. FE E. ABELARDO
Chair, Special Projects Committee

Words of Welcome
MRS. SUSIMA L. GONZALES
President, PLAI

Introduction of the Guest Speaker
MRS. TERESITA C. MORAN
Chief Librarian, APS

Inspirational Message
PROF. CORAZON M. NERA
Chair, Board for Librarians

Intermission
MR. GIGI RENEGADO
Rizal Library, ADMU

Presentation of Awards
PROF. THELMA KIM
Chair, PLAI Awards Committee
MRS. MILAGROS S. ONG
Chair, NBW Awards Committee

Induction of PLAI NCR Librarians Council
PROF. CORAZON M. NERA
Inducting Officer

Closing Remarks
MISS BELEN M. VIBAR
Chair, 2007 Overall Co-Chair


MRS. REBECCA M. JOCSON
Chief Librarian, PLM
Master of Ceremonies

Read More...

Summary only...

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.

Read More...

Summary only...

Free Posters: Love Your Library

Thanks to the National Book Development Board (NBDB), librarians may now ask for free copies of the poster shown above by phone (9209853) or email (oed-at-nbdb-dot-gov-dot-ph). Librarians may want to have the poster on hand for National Book Week (November 26-30: Family Literacy: Reading Begins with Us).

The poster was produced as part of NBDB's Get Caught Reading campaign, in cooperation with the Filipinas Heritage Library. The model is Iza Calzado.

Read More...

Summary only...

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."

Read More...

Summary only...

Update on Job Openings and Career Development

In "Job Openings and Career Development (JOCD) is One Year Old," I asked for feedback and got it. At least three people learned about the jobs they now have through JOCD. One of them emailed me privately, another left a comment on the post, and the other replied through the Filipino Librarians Googlegroup, where other members also expressed support for the blog. An employer also wrote to say that many of the applicants he interviewed for a position mentioned JOCD. Here's hoping that another JOCD reader gets hired. Needless to say, JOCD will keep on going. But I'd like to ask for some help.

If you are an employer and would like to advertise a position, please send me the specifications, but make sure that you begin with a summary in the following format:

Job title: [the official one]
Institution: [name of university, company, etc.]
Location: [city and province, if in the Philippines; city and country, if elsewhere]

If you would like to promote an event, please use the following format for the summary:

What: [name of event]
Where: [city, if in the Philippines; city and country, if elsewhere]
When: [date(s) and time]
How much: [pesos for local events; US dollars with peso equivalent for foreign events]
Sponsor: [just the main organizer]

There is no charge for advertising on JOCD or reading the posts, but please let me know if you found the blog helpful in finding a job or an employee, so that I don't have to wonder whether it's worth the effort.

My email address is von-dot-totanes-at-gmail-dot-com.

Read More...

Summary only...

Wanted: Proactive Librarians as Leaders

While libraries are front and center in two new articles (see "ARMM gov orders establishment of libraries in LGUs" [PIA Press Release, 25 October 2007] and "Public libraries and Kaakbay" by Neni Sta. Romana Cruz [Philippine Daily Inquirer, 27 October 2007]), librarians are mentioned almost as an afterthought. I do not blame the authors, however, for this treatment.

I have groused about the invisibility of librarians before, but after blogging for more than two years, monitoring what appears in print and online about Filipino librarians, contributing what I can to promote librarians worth emulating, and encouraging others to write about their own experiences, I think it's time to admit that the fault lies "not in our stars, but in ourselves."

Many librarians complain that their communities think they do not do anything but sit at their desks and stamp books. But what, I usually ask, are they doing to dispel this notion? We need to be more proactive about communicating and interacting with our own communities, and networking—and working—with other literacy and library advocates.

I have gotten feedback that projects initiated by "outsiders" were left unsupported by library "insiders" because the latter felt that they should be the ones taking the lead. And all I could do was shake my head, and admit that some of our more influential librarians can be rather shortsighted. There are, of course, certain things that "insiders" can do better than "outsiders," but when more of them do research about our own work, and it is because of them that Filipiniana is freely available online, I think we need to thank them, instead of criticizing them for encroaching on our turf.

Enough. If you'd like to see more of what I've written about this, click here: Leadership.

Read More...

Summary only...

Filipiniana Online:From the Speaker's Point of View

The photos above were taken right before I began my presentation on Filipiniana Online at the 3rd Rizal Library International Conference last 23 October 2007. Thanks to Michael Stephens for the idea that the audience deserves to have their photos taken by the speaker =)

Note: Click on the photos to see the larger versions.

Read More...

Summary only...

Filipiniana Online: Links Shared at Rizal Library International Conference

The links below lead to sites featured in the presentation I will be making today at the 3rd Rizal Library International Conference held at the Ateneo de Manila University, 22-23 October 2007. Those that I have previously written about will have two links: one to the site, and the other to my post [in brackets]. In the next few days (maybe weeks), I will be writing about the others, and updating this post accordingly.

Definition of Filipiniana: [Filipiniana Online]

Bookstores and Libraries

Amazon.com
Google Book Search
Microsoft’s Live Search Books
Search all three: Booksearch x 3

Internet Archive
Project Gutenberg [FO: Project Gutenberg]
Universal Library
International Children’s Digital Library [FO: International Children's Digital Library]

World Digital Library

Examples:
- The Promise of the Foreign by Vicente Rafael (2005)
- Chenelyn! Chenelyn! by Rhandee Garlitos (1999)
- The Hispanization of the Philippines by John Leddy Phelan (1959)
- Twenty Years in the Philippines by Paul Proust de La Gironiere (1854)
- Doctrina Christiana (1593):
-- Project Gutenberg
-- Filipiniana.net
-- Library of Congress [FO: Doctrina Christiana]

Filipiniana

Filipiniana.net
The United States and its Territories: 1870-1925: The Age of Imperialism [FO: Reports of the Governors General (1900-1915)]
- Blair and Robertson (all 55 volumes)
- Philippine Journal of Science (1906-1949)

Technical Reports

Asian Development Bank
UNESCO
World Bank
SocioEconomic Research Portal for the Philippines [FO: Socio Economic Research Portal]

Open Access

Directory of Open Access Journals [Directory of Open Access Journals]
Filipino journals: [FO: Journals]
arXiv.org (sciences)

Multimedia

Southeast Asian Images and Texts [FO: Photos from SEAiT]
Southeast Asia Visions Collection
YouTube: Black-and-white newsreels, TV ads [FO: TV Ads (1970s-Present)]
Beauty Pageant Winners [FO: Beauty Queens]
artsentralmanila.net [FO: Paintings]
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection [FO: Newer Maps]
Philippine Comics Art Museum [FO: Comics]
Banknotes.com [FO: Paper Money]
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas [FO: Peso-Dollar Exchange Rate]

My other posts:
- Filipiniana Online (Mar 2005-Dec 2006; titles only)
- Filipiniana Online (Jan 2007- present; full text or first few paragraphs)

Read More...

Summary only...

Job Openings and CareerDevelopment is One Year Old

Today is the first anniversary of Job Openings and Career Development (JOCD), the other Filipino Librarian blog devoted to employment opportunities and other career-related notices. It currently has 141 subscribers and I get a few emails every now and then that tell me it's being read. The photo above even shows that some posts get printed and thumb tacked to real bulletin boards. I would like to know, however, whether anyone has ever gotten hired because s/he read about an opening on JOCD. Alternatively, has an employer whose job opening was listed on JOCD ever hired someone who said that s/he saw their ad on JOCD?

Please, please, please leave a comment below or email me at von-dot-totanes-at-gmail-dot-com to tell me your story. If you don't mind, maybe we can even share the details with everyone who reads this blog. But please let me know because JOCD takes a bit of effort that I could probably devote to this blog. If I don't hear from anyone, then I suppose it's time to close JOCD.

Read More...

Summary only...

Butch Dalisay on Creative Writing

The video above was taken at the National Book Development Board's monthly book club meeting, held at Mag:net Cafe Katipunan yesterday. The featured author was Butch Dalisay, multi-awarded author of books, plays and screenplays, who spoke about writing short stories with no grand designs, but small challenges like starting with one sentence and seeing where the story goes. Dalisay blogs (!) at Pinoy Penman, and was the lone Filipino longlisted for the first-ever Man Asian Literary Prize. Only five of the 23 authors on the long list will make it to the short list to be announced on 25 October 2007. Here's hoping he wins the Prize when it's announced in Hong Kong next month.

Personal impressions: I am not very literary, so it was only when he enumerated some of the screenplays he wrote that I realized that I was "familiar" with his work (e.g., Maging Akin Ka Lamang!). And I was surprised when he shared that he wrote the dialogue for his screenplays in Tagalog, but everything else was in English. The fact that he finished his long-delayed novel in a week because of the Prize deadline gave me hope that I can meet my dissertation deadlines, too. His story about his greatest find—a 1926 fountain pen with gold nib—which was probably worth $500, but for which he was willing to pay P5,000 at a stall in Greenhills, and which the clueless seller sold for P500, reminded me of my recent "quest" to find a few not-so-old-but-hard-to-find-outside-a-library books. I haven't gotten quite as lucky, but... that's another post =)

Read More...

Summary only...