Dear Librarian: Reply to Library Staff Supervisory Program

Dr. Rose Villamater, director of the Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation Library, provides Rose Quilantang of Cebu City a reply from her query on library staff supervisory program.

Dear Rose,

 A supervisory program (can be) a computer program that controls the execution of other routines and regulates work scheduling and workflow, input/output operations and error actions in a data processing system.  Here is the URL of one example --  http://www.answers.com/topic/supervisory-program-1#ixzz19Noqvn4r.

I think I am not the best person to give an advice regarding this topic because this topic needs someone who knew much on computer programs.

But from the simplest point of view when I read this, I was thinking of the Library Staff at supervisory position who plans, organizes, implements and evaluates the school library program(s).

The school librarian need to calendar the special events intended and related to the library with consideration to personnel, facilities, finance, and administrator’s support to the program. 

To share our experiences in MSEUF that can serve as a guide, we started the reading program two years ago and launched it during the National Book Week.  We are hopeful that this program will encourage our Basic Education (BED) students to read and acquire a habit of reading. We were successful in encouraging students to read on the first two years but acquiring a habit of reading had just started.  For this school year, we prepared our calendar of activities with this reading program scheduled towards the early part; we started it last July to celebrate the Childen’s Book Day.  The monitoring of the program was scheduled.  Monitors for the different grade/year levels were assigned.  Recognition, awards and incentives about the program were formulated and scheduled.  Appraisal of the program was also designed and implemented for the improvement of the program and achievement of acquiring the habit of reading.

The guide should provide a broad overview of the content and process of managing a school library program.  A broad overview of the purpose, historical development, and current activities of school libraries and school librarians is presented. Consultation and cooperation between librarians and teachers, administrators, and other staff; public relations and ideas for promoting maximum use of library resources; the production of instructional media; the provision and management of time, personnel, and facilities; the provision and management of library materials; and the assessment and evaluation of school library services. 

The effective school library program supports the classroom program in meeting the learning needs of students. The contemporary school librarian, who orchestrates the major components needed to deliver a total school library program, must fulfill and balance a multi-faceted role and at the same time not lose sight of the benefits to student learners. Systematic planning and effective problem-solving are critical skills for the librarian attempting to set priorities and implement an effective, yet realistic, school library program.  To view the sample guide, check the link.  http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED241041.pdf

Happy New Year!

Dr. Rose Villamater, Library Director Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation Lucena City

Alcala Prize 2011 Call for Entries

The Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) is now accepting entries for the 2011 PBBY-Alcala Prize. The contest is co-sponsored by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and The National Library.

The winner shall be given a cash prize of P20,000.00, a gold medal, and an opportunity to be published. Prizes will be awarded in an appropriate ceremony to be held during the celebration of National Children’s Book Day on July 19, 2011.

Contest Rules:

1. The contest is open to all Filipino citizens except those who are related to any PBBY members up to the third degree of consanguinity.
2. Entries must be based on the 2011 PBBY-Salanga Prize-winning story, “Rizaldy” by Eugene Evasco. Copies of the said story may be requested from the PBBY Secretariat.
3. All entries must be original unpublished illustrations that have not won in any previous contest.
4. All entries must consist of three (3) illustrations that are of the same size and medium, based on the winning story.
5. A contestant may send in more than one (1) entry.
6. Each entry must be signed by a pen name only, preferably on a small piece of paper pasted on the back of each artwork.  Entries with a signature or any identifying marks are automatically disqualified.
7. Together with each entry, contestants must submit a separate envelope, on the face of which only the pen name of the contestant shall appear.  The envelope must contain the contestant’s full name, address, contact numbers, short description of background, and notarized certification vouching for the originality of the entry and for the freedom of the organizers from any liability arising from the infringement of copyright in case of publication.
8. All entries must be sent to the PBBY Secretariat, c/o Adarna House,109 Scout Fernandez cor. Scout Torillo Street, Quezon City by March 30, 2011.
9. Winners will be announced no later than May 6, 2011.  Non-winning entries must be claimed no later than June 29, 2011, after which they will no longer be the responsibility of the organizers.

For more details, interested parties may contact PBBY by calling 3526765 or emailing pbby@adarna.com.ph.

2011 Salanga Prize Winners

Congratulations to Eugene Evasco for winning the grand prize of the 2011 Salanga Award. His story, Rizaldy, will be awarded the Salanga Medal on July 2011 during the celebration of the 28th National Children's Book Day.

Honorable mention goes to Patricia Gomez for her story Pepe's Gift.

SLIA 2010: Year End Round Up of Blog Posts

Keeping up with a blogging tradition at every year's end, here are the first post from December to January 2010 and the first sentence on each.

December - Book Week and Library and Information Services Month came to pass.

November - November is here.

October Wordless post

September - Our letter sender for this month's Dear Librarian post came from Augie Ebreo of the University of Batangas.

August  - Paolo Chikiamco, writer and blogger, is posting a series of my interview via his blog, Rocket Kapre.

July - Posted a video of Noel Cabangon singing Ako'y Isang Mabuting Pilipino

May  - In the afternoon of April 29, 2010, Dir. David and I went on a city tour of Puerto Princesa.

April - I got a wonderful email from Peter Tobey of Salem Press.

March - I had the wonderful experience of presenting to a group of scientists and science educators an overview of Philippine Children's Literature.

February - Paper Tigers is in the process of selecting books for children that will be donated to places around the world where the need is great.

January - 2009 was a breakthrough year for me as a blogger.

A Christmas Greeting

Library Open House

A library open house is one of the many library promotional activities that librarians can organize for their learning community. The later being its recipient and the former, the provider of services and information. What is a library open house, exactly? Its meaning varies from one library to another. But, the main purpose for doing so remains the same -- to inform the learning community that the services and information that the library provide is open for all.  

Stanford University's Information Center had a library open house that showcased new formats of information that's available for research.  Michigan State University's library open house included games and trivia contests. At Adamson University, their library open house involved a book sale, an awarding of library patrons and a series of seminar-workshops for the patrons of the library. Indeed, the library open house can be tailored made to fit the patrons' needs vis-a-vis the existing collection and services of the library.

Another activity that a library open house can have would be the display and the selection of books and other resources for purchase. Library patrons can take part in selecting and reviewing possible library resources for acquisition. And, if time would allow it, have them browse through a materials and resources for weeding out. This would entail weeks of planning and the writing of proposals that school administrators would approve. 

Note that a library open house is an activity that would help librarians strategize in the development and management of a rich and growing collection. This is the crux of the matter in doing library promotional activities. More than the image and the partnership the librarians forge with the community, promotional activities should result to an improved library collection and an efficient library service. 

Other activities that can be incorporated in the library open house would be, book talks, tech-training and orientation of new faculty or users of the library to its rules, guidelines and facility.

My First Library Card

I got my first library card when I was in grade one. I was only six years old then.

I remember how my teacher, Ms. Pagkalinawan, would have us all grade one students line up for a trip to the library. Our library at that time looked like a cave with its walls painted white. There were books on display and we were allowed to choose books we can borrow for a period of time. The librarian, Ms. Oliva, was a plump lady with a cute little smile. On that first visit, she gave a library orientation that focused on the expected behavior at the library.

I could write at grade one but Ms. Oliva and Ms. Pagkalinawan wrote the title of books for us. See how few were the books I borrowed? My mom, who's a librarian, filled the gaps.

In sixth grade, my affair with the school library was rekindled when I discovered the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series in the shelves of the "new" library. It didn't look like a cave anymore. Plus, there was a quaint mezzanine inside that housed the Filipiniana collection.

I would love to visit my old school again to see how the library has grown and evolved. Hopefully, I could get the chance since our batch, PCS High School Batch '90, will have a reunion.

Blogsights: Web 2.0 Reflections

From Joeper -

The Web 2.0

It’s always very exciting to learn new things.  The good things about free seminar workshop are that you are learning new things at no cost. I love to accept such invitations. I believe in my life motto “opportunity knocks only once”, grab it while it’s hot.

Media is everywhere and doesn’t sleep, many scientist and innovators continue researching for new things and advancements. We need to go with the flow or else we will be left behind. Information nowadays is so easy to access by means of Internet. This present generation is almost close to paperless generation. You can have information in a device called computer and even on handheld computing devices. These information can be carried anywhere in your community or around the globe.

Information on the web is a great help to mankind. To know information about places even when you aren’t there, you can feel the ambience of that place. You don’t need a bundle of books to trace the history of our grandfathers. You can promote businesses for less advertisement fees.

The web is a giant on air. Without leaving home, you can share ideas, personal experiences and opinions to your relatives and to the people that you know. Sharing information, giving tips and tricks and making some announcements are moving fast in the information superhighway and delivered it right into your computer in few seconds.

Now it’s time to plug and connect our wireless brain to face the new challenge and a new way of income generator. Earning without leaving the comfort of your home is the best. Let’s make a blog and socialize in online networking.

One participant wished to remain anonymous --


Web 2.0 Technology

Web 2.0 technology is very important to people especially for the librarians because by means of these there’s an interaction between the user and the provider of information. With the help of the technology and media, we are now more aware and updated into the advancement of different technologies. They give us enough knowledge and skills especially in communication skills. We can communicate with the other libraries and ask what are the new trends we have now that can really help us and also to our valued users. Through this web 2.0 technology, example is blog/blogging; we can now gain insights or thoughts of different topics in different places. But creating a blog is not an easy task, although we can do it by ourselves, we should have to know how to manage our time and control the limit. Before we share the information to the users, as a librarian we should have enough knowledge and have patience in sharing information.

Note from SLIA: Reflections (previous posts and current ones) by participants are posted in its unedited versions.

Picture! Picture!

A PBBY Christmas

Merry Christmas from the PBBY! 

Standing: L-R Dr. Luis Gatmaitan; Ani Almario-David; Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz; 

Karina Bolasco; Rosette Crelencia

Seated: L-R Nina Lim-Yuson; Zarah Gagatiga; Sally Labanda; Emily Abrera

Not in picture: Rayvi Sunico; Totet de Jesus; Hermie Beltran

Scholastic Opens Library & Showroom

More Blogsights: Web 2.0 Tech Focusing on Blogs and Blogging

Mula naman kay jsdesingano --


Sa bilis ng pag-usong ng teknolohiya  sa panahon natin ngayon kailangan nating makasabay sa takbo nito. Ang paggamit ng Web 2.0 technology at ang pagbablog ay ang paraan para magawa ito. Bilang librarian o library staff maraming bagay tayong kailangang isaalang-alang:

-       Time (time management)
-       Being Responsible
-       Considering ethics
-       Environment (institution or individual)
-       Resources

Ang lahat ng bagay ay kailangang magsimula sa ating sarili, kailangan nating tanungin ang ating sarili kung kaya natin o hindi? At dito magsisimula ang lahat. Ang pagbibigay ng inpormasyon para sa iba, paglalathala ng mga sariling saloobin tungkol sa sarili o para sa institusyong kinabibilangan, mga bagay-bagay na gusting bigyang kasagutan.

Ako bilang library assistant ay napakapalad ko para mabigyan ng pagkakataon para makadalo sa seminar na ito. At kung matutunan ko ang pagboblog, maging responsible ako sa paggamit at paggawa nito. Maraming salamat po, Ms. Zarah Gagatiga.


From Paula Crescini --


As I browse one of the blogs about the Coffee Goddess, I feel so great that there was a prayer for our Maguindanao people who were victims of massacre last year. For me it is of great help, since it is a prayer intended for them, if a million browse and read that blog, then there are millions who prayed for them. Hope their souls are all in peace.


With regards to Philippine news and history, I browsed the Visconde Massacre where I was not able to get through it by the time it was happened before. I don’t have resources to follow the story and how it happened, but through the inquirer.net blog, I was then able to read the past and up-to-date story about that.


About Feathers in the Wind blogs, it gave me an idea to share how am I became a Librarian and also to give back the gratitude to my benefactor, the Peace Corps Alumni Foundation for Philippine Development. The foundation gave me the opportunity to fulfill my dream.


Blogging really involves communication. It is also one way of sharing your ideas and thoughts and especially the gratitude if you don’t have time to talk with those who you wanted to thank for.
Sharing small ideas with will really help some people to lighten their burden, if you share the word of God that give you strength and proven and seen to you. As a blogger you really is of great help to other.

Blogsights: Web 2.0 Technology - A Focus on Blogging

Here are two more reflections from participants of the Web 2.0 seminar-workshop I conducted last November 26, 2010 at the De La Salle University, Dasmarinas, Cavite.       

        From Khatlyn Grace Alcedo -

        Web 2.0 technology is very important to people especially for the librarians because by means of these there’s an interaction between the user and the provider of information. With the help of the technology and media, we are now more aware and updated into the advancement of different technology.

They give us enough knowledge and skills especially in communication skills. We can communicate with the other libraries and ask what are the new trends we have now that can really help us and also to our valued users. Through this web 2.0 technology, example is blog/blogging; we can now gain insights or thoughts of different topics in different places.

But creating a blog is not an easy task. Though we can do it by ourselves, we should have to know how to manage our time and control the limit of postings. Before we share the information to the users, as a librarian we should have enough knowledge and have patience in sharing information.

From Cholita Clico --

WEB 2.0 Technology was so interesting and knowledgeable to all readers. This technology can give us a lot of information about many things such as giving tips, advertising, posting informative pictures and etc.  That’s why through this technology we can explore our imagination and develop our creativity to produce reliable information and pass this to other users.

  

With regards to the discussion about “Blog and Blogging “I noticed and I learned that creating a blog is not an easy task to do. It needs a lot of time to study and determine what topic or information you are going to blog in your blogging website.  We are also responsible with the information we’re posting in the blog because we always observe ethics and that’s good for the users.   

Thank you very much for today’s seminar-workshop for keeping me in touch about learning the Web 2.0

Loving lovealibrarian.blogspot.com

What a pleasant news I got this morning from Cate Newton of Guide to Online Schools. They love my library blog that it is included in their list of Top 50 Librarian Blogs. If anything, it gives me all the reason to continue blogging. An enormous and eternal thank you to Von Totanes for inspiring me to leave the shadows of blogging anonymity and to courageously embrace the light!


Here's what people in Guide to Online Schools said about SLIA --

School Librarian in Action comes from a Philippine librarian who blogs about books, conferences, his personal interests, and more.

Blogsights!

Me-anne Jimenez-Salvador writes her insights on the Web 2.0 Technology seminar-workshop I conducted at De La Salle University , Dasmarinas, Cavite last November 26, 2010.

It seems that blogging is enjoyable thing to do. But my question is, do I have time on earth to do this thing?  

First, I don’t have access on the site except today because we have workshop and we need to familiarize ourselves with the different blogs by librarians and hopefully be inspired by it. Second, as a unit head, I do need to ensure that our unit – the Readers’ Services is running well because we are the front liners of the library plus I have monthly exhibit to conceptualize and implement plus I have bi-monthly library newsletter to write. Besides, we have so many paper works to do in preparation for PAASCU and other accreditation.  

Third, after office, I have Espasyo Siningdikato, a not-for-profit  community-based artists initiative to take care of. As President, I have to lead the group and think of creative ideas which we could organize and implement and to look for other organizations and agencies to link-up with. 

Fourth, I am the current director for membership and awards of PAEA. There I am expected to raise more members and encourage them to be active in the group. Also, they asked me to think of awards that we could give to our members to honor, motivate and encourage them to excel more on their profession as art educator. 

And lastly, I also need to fulfill my passion to create and produce artworks for the upcoming exhibits of Grupo Ocho, another art group of mine. This is a pool of artists based in Cavite and we exist to hold group art show in Tagaytay and other nearby towns, our way of propagating Cavite art.

With all of these activities, when could I find time to do blogging and where could I do this? I think  I am the one who can best answer this question and what I better way of answering this but to read and reflect on the passage in theEcclesiastes 3:1-15, A Time for Everything.

I will posting more insights by participants, especially on blogging since this activity is a good example of Web 2.0 technology.

Scholastic Christmas Book Sale

I'm dropping by the Scholastic Christmas Book Sale for delightfully discounted books. Books make great gifts this Christmas and this sale is perfect!

I hope to meet Enoy Ferriol at Scholastic Warehouse as well for the Sambat Trust - Scholastic matching book grant initiative we've started at Wawa Elementary School. We're targeting two thousand five hundred books and we've stocked up a thousand and five. A thousand more to go!


The Scholastic Book Sale started last December 1, 2010 and will end on December 10, 2010.

National Book Week Workshops 2010

Reading Is a RIGHT

Book Week and Library and Information Services Month came to pass.

I reflect on the workshops and talks I conducted the past month and realized a few things:  among the many services librarians do, it matters that we make it possible for information to be available to all; and that, whatever format of information we provide our clients, they engage and READ the content and the medium in which it was delivered.

I'm re-posting Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz's article in the Inquirer last 26 November 2010. I have taken this from the PBBY blog. She mentions in her article Minadanao Librarian who has began literacy projects in Mindanao through effective library services. The article once again reminds us of the crucial role we play in national development.

Must we buy books we want to read?

Commentary

by Neni Sta. Romana Cruz

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:46:00 11/26/2010
Inquirer. net Filed Under: Education
 

“Life happened because I turned the pages.” —Alberto Manguel, A History of Reading (1996)

BAY AREA, San Francisco—If I cannot restrain myself from talking about public libraries in a developed country—the one (and only) principal reason I envy the life here—it is really to highlight how literacy and access to books ought to be a basic right that each and every citizen enjoys.

No, I do not have the illusion that American society is not confronted with a declining literacy rate and a fading interest in books. But its citizens are constantly reading more than we do. They read while waiting for the train or a concert, on train rides, even in the course of a morning walk—all of them keeping a book or even a Kindle on hand so that no time is ever wasted. I’d crane my neck, curious to know what they are reading. Most of them carry copies from their public library, as the library name was prominently stamped on the books. (Yes, many others are busy with their mobile phones.)

How could this habit have been acquired if these readers were not immersed in their early years in schools and an effective public library system? No wonder American comic strip characters make a big fuss about acquiring a library card. A library card is indeed a proud badge to own.

Marvin Atienza, a Chevron executive in Concord, recounts that in his school library in Cavite, he would salivate before the locked bookcase of the complete set of brown and gold gilded Encyclopedia Britannica volumes, something he could not yet be allowed to borrow because he was just in grade school.

Fortunately, today’s enlightened teachers know that when the inclination is there, prescribed learning dates should be thrown out the window. Seize the teaching moment as it comes few and far between.

Bless Marvin’s curiosity for not being doused. He went on to become the very first student in his grade school to become a scholar at the Philippine Science High School where he thrived in being constantly challenged. Today in the book paradise that is the US, he is a public library regular and takes pride in having a library card.

Fellow reading advocate RayVi Sunico continues to remind of this contradiction: we, a country whose economy has yet to boost the quality of life and purchasing power, are the very country that has to purchase books that we need. Little wonder that between the more basic needs and books, books are easily dismissed as luxuries.

RayVi’s tireless refrain on the paradox: “A good public library system means reading is not dependent on purchasing power. This is why I point out that the richer the country, the less money people have to spend on buying books.”

Let me not be perceived as merely raving and ranting about the absence and the dismal state of existing public libraries in the country. To date, no one has challenged my lamentations, but I continue to patiently wait, as only reactions in unison with my views have come in.

And there seems to be a glimmer of hope. I stumbled on what appears to be positive news from Mindanao: In 2009 the Davao City Public Library headed by Nora Fe Alajar had been selected by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts as the most outstanding public library in the country. The library in downtown Davao promotes reading among the children in 14 villages through its mobile libraries. Other libraries in the short list were those in Dagupan, Angeles, Zamboanga, Bacolod and Talisay.

There is a blog anonymously run by “Mindanao Librarian, Region XII, Philippines.” I’m impressed that she does not bother to identify herself except to say, “I am passionate about public and school libraries being socially-inclusive learning spaces. I am also a staunch advocate of reader development, particularly for the traditionally marginalized Mindanaoans. I have great faith in the power of information to transform individuals and communities. I dream of the day when Mindanaoan children will be better able to navigate and compete in a world driven more and more by new information challenges.” Shouldn’t that be every librarian’s credo?

What’s even more heartwarming is that she actually enjoys reading—and lists Jessica Zafra’s “Twisted” series among her favorites—and keeps abreast with what’s current, what’s popular and what might appeal to reluctant readers. For how can a love of reading (a truly tired phrase today) be passed on if the librarian does not have it herself? The Mindanao Librarian needs to be lauded and publicly acknowledged.

National Book Week carries this incredibly ponderous theme, “Pandaigdigang Pakikipag-ugnayan sa Pamamagitan ng mga Aklat at Impormasyong Teknolohiya at Komunikasyon.” Could we not do as well with something catchy and memorable as these popular slogans, “Hooked on Books,” “Get Caught Reading,” or “Any Day, Any Time, Any Book,” in Filipino?