Thursday, May 30, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Friday, May 24, 2013
Looking for Andoy: Doms and MJ
This will be MJ Tumamac's first published book for children. Doms Agsaway is already a published illustrator but winning the Alcala Prize this year thrilled him to the bones as he joins the roster of prominent Inkies who've snagged the Alcala medal in past competitions.
Good luck to MJ and more power to Doms!
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Book Project Update: Cover of My Daddy! My One and Only!
Jomike Tejido has consistenly blogged about our book project with Lampara Publishing House. Last Friday, he released a teaser illustration on the book's cover, front and back.
Jomike's post touches on a personal experience because he finished illustrating the book at the wake of his father's death. My condolences to Jomike and the Tejido family. I could not help but admire Jomike's creative spirit and his tenacity for churning out a beautiful work of art in the midst of grief.
As for my back story on My Daddy! My One and Only, I remember that I wrote the story when my son was in first grade. It was actually a poem first published in the The Junior Inquirer. At the time, my husband was a stay-at-home Dad and I marveled at how our eldest adored him. For my son, it was a time of hero worship and he saw his father's acts of love as heroism. Over the course of time, his image of his father being a hero changed and evolved into something real and palpable.
There came a point when he learned that his childhood hero has flaws, a wounded soul who continues to love despite his limitations and shortcomings. Then he realized how wonderful it was to be not just his father's son, but his father's friend too. But that, my friends, is for another story. A young adult novella, perhaps?
As for my back story on My Daddy! My One and Only, I remember that I wrote the story when my son was in first grade. It was actually a poem first published in the The Junior Inquirer. At the time, my husband was a stay-at-home Dad and I marveled at how our eldest adored him. For my son, it was a time of hero worship and he saw his father's acts of love as heroism. Over the course of time, his image of his father being a hero changed and evolved into something real and palpable.
There came a point when he learned that his childhood hero has flaws, a wounded soul who continues to love despite his limitations and shortcomings. Then he realized how wonderful it was to be not just his father's son, but his father's friend too. But that, my friends, is for another story. A young adult novella, perhaps?
Monday, May 20, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
Library Reading Programs for Summer
Sharing the introduction of the library's summer reading list here. My staff and I are coming up with a booklet, five pages in all, that has fiction, non-fiction, ebook titles recommended for teachers, students and their parents. Included in the booklet is a feedback form asking readers to send in their book reviews in exchange of a reading reward when school resumes in August.
Apart from the recommended reads that the library will be releasing next week, there's also the Creativity Action Service activity that I'm spearheading for incoming Grade 12 students. I dubbed it as Summer Reading Circle. Here are the simple mechanics of the activity.
Apart from the recommended reads that the library will be releasing next week, there's also the Creativity Action Service activity that I'm spearheading for incoming Grade 12 students. I dubbed it as Summer Reading Circle. Here are the simple mechanics of the activity.
Summer Reading Circle: Participate and earn CAS points for Creativity
a. Incoming grade 12s borrow two books from the library over the long summer break.
b. Read the books and write a review. Reviews will be published in the school website, school newspaper or the library's blog. Well written reviews may be sent to a print or online magazine :-)
c. Reading Circle participants read the book reviews of their peers and post comments.
d. Librarian or teacher (volunteer) can conduct online discussions. Or, over the summer, meet up for face to face discussion.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Happy Mother's Day!
Another spread from Jomike Tejido from our book, My Daddy, My One and Only. What a fitting illustration for today's Mother's Day celebration.
To my mom who pushed me to become a librarian; to my children who make me a better person every day by being their mother; to my husband who made my being a mother possible; and to my mothers in the profession, thank you for this life filled with grace!
Friday, May 10, 2013
Acceptance Letter from IASL and ATPUSI
This is not my first time to deliver a library paper/workshop to an international audience. But being accepted as paper presenter and workshop facilitator in the 2013 IASL Annual Conference means a lot to me.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Filipino Librarian: Mennie Ruth Viray
This May, high school librarian Mennie Ruth Viray from Colegio San Agustin Makati is the blog's fetaured Filipino Librarian. She graduated from the UP SLIS and is currently pursuing her master's degree in the same university. She's has been a school librarian for four years now.
A. What's your lib story? Describe how you made the choice of majoring in LIS and what was college life like for you as a LIS major. You can cite challenging stories and success stories while studying the course.
Serendipity. This would best describe how I got into studying LIS. I spent my first two years of college in UP Baguio and finally decided to go back here in Manila. I tried to apply in other courses but I guess they didn't work out well. I was sitting with one of my best friends at the sunken garden, feeling a little lost knowing that I haven't qualified in any of the courses I applied in and going back to Baguio was no longer a choice. As we sat down, the sight of the main library building got me and there I thought: “This is my final shot.” Lo and behold, I found myself threading on a new path. I never sought for it, I guess it was the other way around, LIS found me and I'm glad it did.
As a student, my involvement in UP FLIPP (UP Future Library and Information Professionals of the Philippines), a college-based student orgarnization and in the local Student Council for two years helped me deepen my appreciation for the LIS course. Ultimately, my experiences as a student leader helped me form and stregthen my ideals of the profession and the potential it holds to make better our society through service.
B. What has been the greatest challenge you've faced so far as a licensed and working librarian? Why do you say it's a challenge.
Breaking stereotypes would probably remain the primary challenge for most librarians. The process is long and tedious. It requires a lot of work and effort on the part of the librarian especially when the library collection and services are primarily at stake. As LIS professionals, we put our profession in the pedestal knowing what we are capable of doing and our stake in educating and transforming young minds but how other stakeholders perceive us to be is not always the same. How the library and the librarian, are perceived by the administrators, faculty, and students would remain crucial in both the development of the library and the school/community it serves. For administrators, the issue would always be about library finances and the proper allocation whether in terms of the collection, facilities, physical arrangement, and even the professional development of the library staff. For teachers and students, it's making them realize that librarians are also collaborators in their teaching/learning development, that librarians can also be their sources of information and that the library is a wonderful venue for learning outside the four corners of their classrooms.
C. What is your area of expertise in LIS?
As a budding librarian, I would like to focus my career on literacy, to strengthen the love and appreciation for books and reading to the youth. More importantly, my four years as a school librarian made me realize how crucial our role is in teaching the young generation how to manage information and transform what they know to something more meaningful and worthwhile. But this is just the other side of the fence. Working for a school catering to students from well-off families has not alienated me from the reality that a lot of Filipino children continue to struggle from the lack of access to education --- to libraries and books. In the near future, I would like to see myself involved in an organization that uplifts reading and literacy among children or even build small community libraries and establish reading/literacy programs in remote areas.
D. What do you think are the requirements and preparations necessary for becoming a LIS professional?
Hmmm...finish a degree in LIS, find the type of library you think you would enjoy and grow as a librarian, pass the licensure exams, got to have lots of patience, and most of all a heart that beats (and bleeds) service ;)
E. What rewards have you reaped from being a LIS professional?
More than the monetary value, the rewards came more on how I see myself in relation to other people. Working in the library is like having a daily reminder of how important it is to do my work diligently (filing system and shelf reading “a misshelved book is a lost book”), effectively and efficiently (reference service “the right book to the right reader at the right time”) and creatively while staying humble and grateful.
A. What's your lib story? Describe how you made the choice of majoring in LIS and what was college life like for you as a LIS major. You can cite challenging stories and success stories while studying the course.
Serendipity. This would best describe how I got into studying LIS. I spent my first two years of college in UP Baguio and finally decided to go back here in Manila. I tried to apply in other courses but I guess they didn't work out well. I was sitting with one of my best friends at the sunken garden, feeling a little lost knowing that I haven't qualified in any of the courses I applied in and going back to Baguio was no longer a choice. As we sat down, the sight of the main library building got me and there I thought: “This is my final shot.” Lo and behold, I found myself threading on a new path. I never sought for it, I guess it was the other way around, LIS found me and I'm glad it did.
As a student, my involvement in UP FLIPP (UP Future Library and Information Professionals of the Philippines), a college-based student orgarnization and in the local Student Council for two years helped me deepen my appreciation for the LIS course. Ultimately, my experiences as a student leader helped me form and stregthen my ideals of the profession and the potential it holds to make better our society through service.
B. What has been the greatest challenge you've faced so far as a licensed and working librarian? Why do you say it's a challenge.
Breaking stereotypes would probably remain the primary challenge for most librarians. The process is long and tedious. It requires a lot of work and effort on the part of the librarian especially when the library collection and services are primarily at stake. As LIS professionals, we put our profession in the pedestal knowing what we are capable of doing and our stake in educating and transforming young minds but how other stakeholders perceive us to be is not always the same. How the library and the librarian, are perceived by the administrators, faculty, and students would remain crucial in both the development of the library and the school/community it serves. For administrators, the issue would always be about library finances and the proper allocation whether in terms of the collection, facilities, physical arrangement, and even the professional development of the library staff. For teachers and students, it's making them realize that librarians are also collaborators in their teaching/learning development, that librarians can also be their sources of information and that the library is a wonderful venue for learning outside the four corners of their classrooms.
C. What is your area of expertise in LIS?
As a budding librarian, I would like to focus my career on literacy, to strengthen the love and appreciation for books and reading to the youth. More importantly, my four years as a school librarian made me realize how crucial our role is in teaching the young generation how to manage information and transform what they know to something more meaningful and worthwhile. But this is just the other side of the fence. Working for a school catering to students from well-off families has not alienated me from the reality that a lot of Filipino children continue to struggle from the lack of access to education --- to libraries and books. In the near future, I would like to see myself involved in an organization that uplifts reading and literacy among children or even build small community libraries and establish reading/literacy programs in remote areas.
D. What do you think are the requirements and preparations necessary for becoming a LIS professional?
Hmmm...finish a degree in LIS, find the type of library you think you would enjoy and grow as a librarian, pass the licensure exams, got to have lots of patience, and most of all a heart that beats (and bleeds) service ;)
E. What rewards have you reaped from being a LIS professional?
More than the monetary value, the rewards came more on how I see myself in relation to other people. Working in the library is like having a daily reminder of how important it is to do my work diligently (filing system and shelf reading “a misshelved book is a lost book”), effectively and efficiently (reference service “the right book to the right reader at the right time”) and creatively while staying humble and grateful.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Belated Happy Birthday to SLIA!
While I've managed to stay sane, in God's mercy, some regular routines need to be put aside. One of these is my regular blogging duties. Anyways, making fifteen posts last month is not really bad considering the circumstances.
So, I celebrate this blog's ninth birthday! Looking forward to my tenth year of blogging!
Friday, May 3, 2013
Upcoming Book: My Daddy, My One and Only!
After wrapping up A Tale of Two Dreams with Bernadette Solina Wolf and sending the revised book dummy back to the press, Jomike Tejido posted a spread of our book project, My Daddy, My One and Only! When Jomike sent the studies a few months back, I was whisked back to my childhood. His rendition reminded me of two childhood favorites: Babar and Richard Scarry!
And now, he sent me this sample of the finished illustration of one of the book's spreads with colors. Can you guess what animal character Jomike used for the main characters of the story?
Visit Jomike Tejido's blog to see more of his wonderful illustrations.