The Johanna Tacus Interview

Johanna Tacus, PNU alumna and top 7 in the recent board exam for librarians, opens up her heart and mind through this interview. She was PNU LISSAA's first scholar. 

a. What made you decide to take BS LIS in college?

My aunt is the chief librarian in our high school, and when she saw that I was an active member of the Book Lovers’ Club, she suggested that I take LIS, since I love books, and she also explained the many opportunities I can have after graduation. I also felt that this was the path that God wanted me to take, after prayerful consideration of all the courses that I was interested in.

b. Please provide me with a background of your current work.

I am currently unemployed, haha! I have applied at some libraries, and while waiting for their calls, I am volunteering to help put up the library in our church (St. Stephen’s Parish), which is easy to say but hard to do! There are so many books, and the theology ones are hard to catalog. By God’s strength, I hope to finish this soon and open the library to the members.

c. What is the most memorable experience you had in PNU taking up BS LIS?

I’d say it was our classes in cataloging, when we were tasked to make a scrapbook of catalog cards of different kinds of books. My classmates and I were comparing each other’s cards and laughing at how much red ballpen marks we got! Our professor (Prof. Marasigan) was laughing along with us too, but he encouraged us that we would get it after more practice. I remember the time he was teasing my classmate about her margins – sobrang laki ng spacing, puwedeng dumaan ang airplane dito oh!. The class was also sharing (really corny) jokes with him, but times like that are the moments that I enjoyed with my classmates.

d. Who are your librarian heroes? Or for this matter, any professional you idolize and hold with deep respect.

I would say that it’s Andrew Carnegie. I admire him because he became great even though he did not have proper schooling, he just learned by himself through reading books. (That is the kind of results that I want to achieve in our libraries: people becoming knowledgeable through the library collection.) Later on in life, he built up several public libraries and idealized that free libraries should be open to the public.

e. What does it mean for you to pass the licensure exams for LIS professionals and making it to the Top 10?

For me, this is another evidence of the grace of God, because I could not have done it without Him, and also, everyone close to me prayed about it (which I am very thankful for!) The very number which I placed in, 7, is a significant number in the Bible because it indicates wholeness. I am made whole because of God. That is enough for me to believe that this was His doing, and not my efforts. It also reassures me that I am capable, as the verse goes, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

f. Where do you see yourself specializing in - school, public, academic or corporate, law or medical, research or international librarianship?

I would love to stay in a school library, teaching reading and literacy to the kids. I would like to encourage them to have a habit of reading, show them that it’s fun to read and how important it is to be able to learn a lot through the library. But if not in the school, I would also be interested in medical or research, as it can contribute to all of our well-being if we are more informed and updated.

 g. What book have you read that has made a big mark in your life? A book that challenged your world view or changed your paradigm in life.

One Night with the King by Tommy Tenney. It’s a historical novel of Queen Esther from the Bible, and her life story is about how God has a plan for each of our lives, that He can turn what we call a tragedy into something great.

It is an honor to be included in your blog, thank you so much for this opportunity.