The 10th International Conference on Children's and Young Adults' Librarianship (ICCYAL) closed out with the awarding of the Children's Librarian of the Year Award and The Outstanding Children's and Young Adult Library Services. Congratulations to Mr. Troy Lacsamana for being conferred as the Children's Librarian of the Year and to the Imus Public Library and Laguna Provincial Library for conducting services of the outstanding qualities for children and young adults.
These are wonderful news to usher in November being Library and Information Services Month. As the ICCYAL celebrated the past, present and future of Philippine Children's and Young Adult Librarianship the work for school librarians and public librarians serving children and young people is cut out for us. As one of the speakers, I am honored to have lent a report on the status of children's and young adult librarianship. Conducted online, the recorded video can be watched via the National Library's Facebook Page. If you missed it, just click the link and catch up on all the fun.
So. My general takeaway is this:
The Philippines is lacking on many things that will catapult public and school libraries to reach its potentials but it is not wanting in human resources. Storytelling, a phenomenon that is replete with the richness of human capacity building, has become a force used by many librarians and libraries to reach young people and open up access to the literature that is created for them. This is good. Very, very good.
But, we need to move past storytelling as a performative act. Storytelling has to move away from the teller towards the listener being able to partake in the experience of telling the story, before, during and after the telling. Young people must be engaged in this experience. If we can't develop the tech or run short of bringing it to our libraries, we can enable young people to be agents and advocates of themselves through storytelling.
More on this in future post.
For now, let us celebrate the winners of the awards and be positive in keeping our services for young people alive and kicking whatever the odds are.
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