Yan Ang Pinay! Resurrected

It's been ages since my Yan Ang Pinay! post. Work and work on the side lines kept me from posting the Pinay image and character in Philippine Children's Literature.

The cover of the December 2006 issue of Star Teacher magazine inspired me to write again for the Yan Ang Pinay series which I started a year or two ago. This time around, I'm including successful Pinays in their field of discipline and advocacy. It has to be related to literacy and libraries though, after all, these are two of the many reasons why I keep SLIA.

For this YAP (Yan Ang Pinay) feature, I'm pleased to write about Helen Bautista. She is a retired teacher who has found a second career as Library Commissioner for the public library system of San Francisco, USA. In her visits in the different public libraries in the district, she witnessed the clamor for more books and greater development of libraries. Families are ardent readers. Parents demand that access to books and information are available from Monday to Sunday. Budget for their libraries have increased as government support is unending.

Bautista has been to Manila visiting libraries as well. She has learned of the initiatives of Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation in training teachers and developing school libraries for a reading and literate nation. She lauds the foundations effort and hopes that the work and advocacy become an inspiration to others.