A Post On Library Week
Dear Me writes about National Library Week, April 12-18, 2009. An excerpt:
Here in the Philippines, public libraries are most often neglected not only in terms of books and other reading materials acquisition but also the entire library itself. For a country wherein the government holds education in high value, its public libraries are a great study of contrast.
Although, there are still public libraries that are well-kept by librarians and humanitarians who share their passions to the children of the poor. (I wish that those private and well-maintained libraries managed by private organizations also funnel their resources to these ill-forgotten public libraries. After all, it's for the little generation of this nation.)
I started utilizing our public library when I was already in my university years. It was during my first year of college when I decided to check our public library. Unfortunately, it didn't offer much for the materials I needed for my research were not available. The idea of visiting other city libraries grew on me as I become frustrated in gathering related sources for my research. Some offered little but most often, the information were already obsolete and outdated.
In terms of reading, somehow I agree that both the bookstore and the phenomenon of coffee shops has replaced the library. Here, almost all the bookstores have a reading area where you can not only browse but read the books. When it comes to coffee shops, the place is not only where you drink and savor the aroma of your favorite cafe and chat with friends but it has also evolved as a venue for people to flip the pages of their books and while the time reading and finishing a novel. I am guilty on both counts.
Click here to read the entire entry.
Here in the Philippines, public libraries are most often neglected not only in terms of books and other reading materials acquisition but also the entire library itself. For a country wherein the government holds education in high value, its public libraries are a great study of contrast.
Although, there are still public libraries that are well-kept by librarians and humanitarians who share their passions to the children of the poor. (I wish that those private and well-maintained libraries managed by private organizations also funnel their resources to these ill-forgotten public libraries. After all, it's for the little generation of this nation.)
I started utilizing our public library when I was already in my university years. It was during my first year of college when I decided to check our public library. Unfortunately, it didn't offer much for the materials I needed for my research were not available. The idea of visiting other city libraries grew on me as I become frustrated in gathering related sources for my research. Some offered little but most often, the information were already obsolete and outdated.
In terms of reading, somehow I agree that both the bookstore and the phenomenon of coffee shops has replaced the library. Here, almost all the bookstores have a reading area where you can not only browse but read the books. When it comes to coffee shops, the place is not only where you drink and savor the aroma of your favorite cafe and chat with friends but it has also evolved as a venue for people to flip the pages of their books and while the time reading and finishing a novel. I am guilty on both counts.
Click here to read the entire entry.
posted by pgenrestories at 1:22 PM
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