Earning a License

Sixteen years ago, I took the exams for librarians that would earn me a license.

If my memory serves me right, Dean Igor Cabbab was my exams-mate. He was seated a few chairs in front of me. I was seated in front of Abigail Capitin. I did not know them then. Yet, I remember both their faces. They were very confident. Years after, in some librarian event or the other, I was able to pick up their names and match it with my memory of their bright faces.

What I remember well was the way I was squirming in my seat those two days of the exam. Unlike Dean Cabbab and Ms. Capitin, I was a bundle of nerves. I was so unsure of passing the board exam. As luck would have it, I passed a few steps above the passing mark. Mahal talaga ako ni Lord.

Passing the librarians' board exam meant everything to me. I took it as God's way of telling me to be a librarian. Back then, I was teaching in preschool.

As a young professional and licensed librarian, ang yabang ko. A few years of actual practice made me realize how complicated this issue of librarians earning a license was. Human factor so they say, it is not perfect. At present, it remains so. What with many non-licensed librarians practicing the profession equal to their licensed counterparts. Sigh.

My simple message to those who passed the librarians' board exam: the moral and ethical obligations to obtaining and having a license is a personal responsibility. Use it well.

Congratulations to you!