BAGUIO CITY – Where do a lot of Baguio folks follow a beeline when trying to find encouragement and comfort, bewildered, undecided, looking for answers or merely trying to hide between the covers of a book?
And where, after entering a big space lined with rows of shelves and packed with printed materials, can you see the printed words “Quiet” coldly staring at you? Well, pocket your giggles but not your smile and tread lightly into a library.
To understand the reason behind the famous and universally acknowledged librarian maxim, “Quiet,” then welcome to the world of a Quiet Zone, and reflect in a hushed place in a noisy world.
A library is far different from a bookshop. A bookshop profits by selling books. A library, on the other hand, just waits for you there and quietly lends you books from the goodness of its heart.
And if you are inside a library, don’t ever mess with a librarian.
A library conjures up old images of a stereotype of an individual – the librarian, female or male – doing the rounds of a book depository and, upon hearing unnecessary voices emanating among readers, will articulate the proverbial, “Shhhh!” A female librarian was depicted before as the archetypical sort of hair arranged in buns with horn-rimmed glasses perched on her nose; for the male librarian, a mild-mannered man in V-neck sweaters.
Streams of readers hie daily – except Sunday – towards an unpretentious public building located at Kisad Road, just across the children’s playground of Burnham Park, to pore over books, periodicals, other reading materials and strive to enrich further their minds and be freed from the shackles of ignorance.
For who said, “A library is a place where you can lose your innocence without losing your virginity?”
Unassuming, the public building is none other than the Baguio City Public Library, a repository of cultural heritage, other intellectual literary and information sources offering an inexhaustible wealth of knowledge in printed words and other audio-visuals of various kinds – for Baguio people’s growth, life-long learning and citizenship building.
To meet readership demands, the city library has been modernized through city government expense, expanding its services with an upgraded edifice, improved facilities, better services and a refreshment and mobile charging stations, to boot.
Acquisition of its modernization came about after approval on third and final reading on February 1, 2021 by the city council of City Ordinance 06-2021, which stated among others, “The goal of the city government to modernize the City Library and expand its services, will be realized.”
Whatever was the cost expended for the modernization of Baguio City Public library, the price is still very cheap, if one is to compare it to an “ignorant citizenry.” Of which, fortunately, most Baguio residents fail to fall under such a category.
Ignorant citizenry is never in the phraseology of Baguio City Public Library for embedded in its mission set in stone is, “To enhance the quality of life for the people in the community by providing free access to library resources, services and programs that promote learning, enrichment, enlightenment and cultural growth.”
It is “a beacon of learning and development devoted to helping citizens become well-informed and willing to contribute their best to society through the knowledge gathered from within its walls.”
Baguio City Librarian Easter Pablo explains the library carries on the task of dispersing the fascination of reading and learning by opening its portals to all and sundry while joining forces with other organizations in pursuit of its mandate: “To promote the moral and intellectual well-being of the people, elevate the literacy level and recognize the vital role of knowledge and information in nation-building.”
While librarians tend to be an introspective bunch, they are the coolest people you can ever meet, even if they are obsessed with complete and total order. For, apparently, it comes with the reckoning of the job. Without a concise system working in a library, books and other reading items can go missing, misplaced or irretrievably lost.
One piece of written document, for example, inadvertently inserted in the pages of a book, will result in chaos, reigning supreme in a library and it will be difficult to navigate the whole library, meticulously searching just for one – but very important reading document.
One piece of missing or misplaced document can take days or weeks to find in a library crammed with books holding millions of pages, the reason why librarians are so fanatical when it comes to order.
And there are two inflexible rules you must not break if you are in a library -the domain of librarians. These are “Silence,” and “Books must be returned no later than the last date written on the borrower’s card.”
Ms. Pablo is far different from the old image of a librarian. For while the Baguio City Public Library still adheres to the quietness of a library for which it is traditionally known for, Pablo believes learning should be student-centered, actively collaborating, questioning, creating and analyzing.
Such stand of Pablo can best be gleaned from the library’s promotion of reading among kids’ sessions held Fridays and Saturdays at the “children’s section,” which teaches them, among others, how to read, appreciate use of vocabulary, use of the dictionary and improving their comprehension while having fun.
Pablo is the winner of 2021’s “Search for Gawad Parangal sa Natatanging Propesyonal na Tagapangasiwa sa Pampublikong Aklatan,” the first time for a public librarian in Baguio City and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) to receive the prestigious award.
Pablo is a strong advocate of “a library being the hub of a school,” believer in one-on-one mentoring of at-risk learners, believer of connecting with learners and drumming up their enthusiasm and believer in technology integration.
These hypotheses of Pablo have been proven profoundly right, since during the pre-Covid-19 pandemic programs and services of the Baguio City Public Library, she started school-based reading programs, barangay visitations for establishment of reading centers and in-house library orientations.
During the pandemic, Pablo shepherded the Public Library Virtual Reference Assistance (PLVRA), online library and information services, book drive for reading centers in far –flung areas and provided support to Baguio’s pandemic efforts.
Far from being a “killjoy” as depicted in the old outlook for librarians, Pablo is the epitome of “the lively librarian,” believing reading aloud is fun, funny voices and costumes to go with the story; she initiated part of the city library’s projects, the online contest and trivia.
In a nutshell, Pablo also sticks to the proposition that what a school perceives about its library is a yardstick of how it cares about educating pupils.
Originally created before World War II and housed at the building of the Baguio City Post Office, the Baguio City Public Library has traveled a long by transferring to various locations before finally having a permanent home near Burnham Park. But its mandate and objectives never changed.
It holds in its portfolio recorded cultural heritage, a legacy of the past, experience in the present and to be transmitted to future reading generations.
Article XIV, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution states, “The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all.”
If one is to paraphrase Article XIV, Section1, then it can be said that if Cordillerans and other compatriots in all regions of the Philippines are to be enlightened, then then there is need to know of more ideas for more enlightened Filipinos poring over books in more public libraries.
Filipinos must know all the facts, hear all alternatives and listen to criticism. Controversial authors with their controversial books should be read, for the Philippine Bill of Rights guarantees security as well as liberty.
Any library happens to offer great, indestructible riches waiting to be tapped for free. As Frederick Langoyad, from Baguio, says: “While a library attracts the interest of scores of people every day, countless others continue to ignore such wealth and choose to wallow in crass ignorance and unlettered ways.”
On the other hand, Prescilla Geddangen, a parent from La Trinidad, Benguet says, “Nevertheless, we are happy to note that the tribe of readers, including those in schools, is gradually increasing.”
Cyrille Gaye Miranda, Public Information Officer (PIO) Of the Department of Education (DepEd-CAR) reveals results of pretest and posttest for English reading levels for Grade 7 in the Baguio Schools Division Office having increased from 31.3 percent to 43.5 per cent in the independent level.
Meaning, learners previously categorized by DepEd-CAR as on instructional level, have leaped by becoming independent readers. Miranda adds that only one in ten readers in the Baguio Division Office “found reading materials so difficult that they could not successfully respond to them.”
Baguio Division Office breaks down the percentage to “four in ten learners that could read independently with almost perfect oral reading and excellent comprehension without help from any teacher.”
That is what one gets from reading constantly; that is what one gets rewarded by visiting a library.
As the late Frances Laoyan, English teacher of Easter School often told her students in the 70’s and 80’s: “A library opens up the world and changes perspectives. So read. This amusement will never do harm to your world and books are the most patient of teachers.”
