What Goes Behind Zoom and an Online Author Visit

Family will always matters so I picked Max for the read aloud.

This month is Buwan ng Wika. The theme this year is indigenous languages and "bayanihan". I posted on the blog early this month that I am preparing for storytelling sessions which will be delivered online. Given the circumstances, it is the only way to go.

COVID-19 has turned our world upside down. We are not prepared for this contagion but our DNA is built in with the natural instinct to survive. Thus, we use all the necessary tools and means to create and communicate to each other and with each other.

Other than a recorded storytelling video, I have been interviewed for an Author Visit by the De La Salle DLS Zobel Librarians. A week ago, I was hooked in Zoom with my dear friend Ann Grace Bansig. She interviewed me for a recorded online Author Visit for DLS Zobel's Buwan ng Wika celebration. We talked about my books and the experiences I have writing them. I enjoyed the session and I am pretty excited to see how it will turn out.

This new experience provided us with many advantages. One, we had the time to schedule the interview at our most convenient day and hour. Two, as guest author, I was able to prepare for the interview since I had the outline of the script before hand. Three, there are enough days or lead time for the librarians to edit the video. Just imagine the preparations the DLS Zobel librarians went through. Also, this new media of communication required them to learn the technology of rendering videos online. Overnight, these school librarians became media practitioners.

This is a snippet the recorded read aloud of The Day Max Flew Away in Zoom.

What comes to mind is the preparations I do for when I am a guest in Ang Pinaka in GMA TV. We undergo the same process, except that, the production team of Ang Pinaka are media people and professionals in the field.

I think it would benefit librarians and most specially, the teachers who will use television and media in the delivery of lessons this coming school year to get a crash course on media production.

Let us see where this will lead us!

Salamat, PASLI!

Hangang ngayon, punongpuno pa rin ang puso ko sa pasasalamat sa mga officers ng PASLI (Philippine Association of School Librarians), sa iginawad nilang recognition para sa aking mga gawa, nagawa at gawain bilang isang school librarian, teacher librarian at advocate ng mga aklat at pagbabasa. Hindi ko kase inakalang makakakuha ako ng ganoong recognition mula sa mga kaibigan sa pinili (at pinilit) kong propesyon. Isang sorpresa! Wala akong nasabi sa video chat kundi, salamat at salamat!

Taos puso rin ang pasasalamat ko kina Darrel Marco at Ann Grace Bansig na naging saksi at tumangap ng plaque noong araw na iyon, April 19, 2017 sa N Hotel, Cagayan de Oro City. Bukod sa nanay ko na isang librarian rin, silang dalawa ang susunod na angkop na tumangap ng recognition para sa akin. Bakit nga ba ako wala noong araw na iyon ng PASLI conference? Unang araw pa naman ng conference yun. Well, my dear readers, palipasin muna natin ang ilang araw at ikukuwento ko sa inyo ang dahilan. Pramis!

So, now I wish to formally deliver my response and, yes my acceptance speech. Nakukulangan kase ako sa ginawa kong FB post. I think, PASLI deserves more than a post on FB as a way to thank them.

My dear PASLI friends and colleagues,

How I wish I was there to personally accept the plaque and to humbly receive the recognition that the organization have accorded me. I do not think of the PASLI standards nor its values when doing my work and advocacy. Gusto ko lamang gumawa ng tama at ng mabuti dahil hindi ako perfect na tao. To quote John Steinbeck, "now that you know that you are not perfect, you can be good." At dahil ang pagiging school librarian ang isa sa mga alam kong paraan kung paano maging mabuti, I pursued being one with all my heart and soul to the point of being unorthodox and downright, ah, different.

I believe that when we pursue our passions, life rewards us a hundredfold.

The love of family.

The support of true and good friends.

You, PASLI and the more than 100 participants of the 2017 Annual Conference, make my work and advocacy possible! Rewards na kayong lahat sa buhay ko.

I have had many failures as a school librarian. And I suppose, for as long as I live, I will not stop making mistakes. In a way, this makes me happy because it affirms two things: I am alive and I am still in the process of becoming.

Feeling ko, maraming deserve ang ganitong recognition. Kaya naman, magsisikap pa akong kilalanin at tulungan ang mga taong nagsisikap na maging mabuting school librarian sa abot ng aking makakaya. Alam kong hindi ako nag-iisa at panahon lang ang naghihintay para dumami tayong lahat na mga mabubuting school librarian. Sabi ni Salve Dimzon sa FB, "how to be you po?" And reply ko sa kanya ay isang kanta ni Barney, the Purple Dinosaur:

I'm the one and only me
I'm special you see
You're the one and only you
You're special too!

Lahat tayo ay may likas na galing, talino at, siyempre ganda! I hope we can be an inspiration to each other!

Muli, salamat PASLI! Hindi rito natatapos ang aking paglilingkod!

Hangang sa susunod na pagkikita!

With  much love and with a grateful heart,

Zarah G :-)

PS - please continue to pray for my health and well-being! I shall keep you all in my prayers!

MUNPARLAS: On Mentoring and Being Mentored

With Ann Grace Bansig and Marivic Silence

I have to hand it to MUNPARLAS, the little library organisation that could, and can! It has once again successfully concluded a summer conference in Capas, Tarlac last April 7-8, 2016. The Mt. Pinatubo trekking did not push through, but participants and its officers went home happy, energised with the friendships they have forged with old and new ones, inspired to carry on despite the challenges that face Filipino Librarians today.

This is not the first time that MUNPARLAS has invited me to give a talk and workshop. Back in 2012, I gave a talk on reading promotions and from then on, they have "patronised" me. For the past five years, I think I have done, four or five talks, lectures and workshops with them on K-12, Information Literacy, Objectives Based Education, Bibliotherapy and the recent one which is the Library Customer Journey Map. Always, they are grateful for my presence and for my participation as resource speaker and workshop facilitator. I am humbled by this.

I am just as grateful -- and more!

The recent MUNPARLAS Conference focused on the themes of mentoring and coaching and the challenges that LIS professionals face in this day and age. While I was "packaged" and promoted as a mentor to younger LIS professionals and as a coach to colleagues, I have to admit that MUNPARLAS is one of the many associations in Philippine Librarianship today who continuously mentors me. The officers of MUNPARLAS have given me topics I am very confident in doing and comfortable enough to explore on. I feel the organisation's respect in me and their belief that I can develop new ideas and content. In fact, I am going to apply the topic I presented at the conference in my school library. It is an exciting endeavour! What an amazing way to grow professionally!

Another good thing that I noticed is the continued nurturing of its members and the setting up pathways for them to become the next leaders of MUNPARLAS. The current set of officers is very promising. From the looks of it, they are ready to take MUNPARLAS to the next level, if not, probably deeper into developing skills, talents and collegial relationships among its officers, advisers and members.

Participants, mentors and coaches of the 2016 MUNPARLAS Conference

Congratulations to Ann Grace Bansig for a job well done being its President for the past three years! To Marivic Selencio, who will be leading MUNPARLAS into greater heights and exciting adventures, you have my support. To its committed officers, good luck and more power!

SLIA's Reply on Recommended Books for Bibliotherapy

Here's my reply to Ann Grace Bansig's query.

My recommendations for bibliotherapy: 

Choose stories that kids can mirror themselves as characters in the story. What qualities or values then do you wish to emphasize? Hope? Endurance? Cooperation? Resourcefulness? Decide on this early on. Once you have decided, it would be easy to choose stories.

If I were to tell stories, I would use the fable of grasshopper and ant, but ant would end up helping grasshopper. I would also use Joseph's Overcoat to drive on creativity and imagination. 

You can also share personal stories pod survival and tenacity. Do not forget to use pre, during and post reading questions or activities!

          Good luck!

SLIA's Dear Librarian: Books for Bibliotherapy

Last month, librarian friend, Ann Grace Bansig left for Samar to do storytelling with kids who survived typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. She sent me this eamil:

I will be leaving for Guian, Samar next week. This will be a bibliotherapy experience for me.

If you're not too busy, can you please recommend stories for the children affected by Yolanda?

I will post my book recommendations to her next week.

What Teens Are Reading

In a talk with fellow KUTING writers and probees last November 2013, I shared with them three high school libraries who collected titles of YA novels read by their students. Joy Fajardo Nera and Ann Grace Bansig sent their library's top ten YA reads based on circulation reports.

From Joy Fajardo Nera, Assumption College, San Lorenzo Makati
1. The House of Hades by Rick Riordan 
2. The Infernal Devices Series especially the Clockwork Princess  
3. The Secret Series by Pseudonymous Bosch 
4. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli  
5. The Abundance of Katherine by John Green.  
6. The Inkheart Trilogy by Cornelia Funke  
7. Life of Pi by Yann Martel  
8. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho  
9. Sophie Kinsela's books 
10. The Giver by Lois Lowry.

Top Ten List from De La Salle Santiago Zobel School (Grades 7-10) sent by Ann Grace Bansig
1. Dancing Home by Alma Flor Ada and Gabriel M. Zubizarreta (lexile book) 2. Revenge of the Whale : the true Story of the Whale Ship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick (lexile book) 3. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green 4. Looking for Alaska by John Green 5. Paper Towns by John Green 6. Ten Great Mysteries by Edgar Allan Poe (lexile book) 7. The Princess Plot by Kirsten Boie (lexile book) 8. The Wright Brothers at kitty hawk by Donal J. Sobol (lexile book) 9. This As What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer Smith 10. Let It Snow: Three Holiday romances by John Green

Librarian-Storyteller: Ann Grace Bansig

Librarian-Storyteller Ann Grace Bansig shares her answers to my questions before we had our storytelling session in Sambat Elementary School with Sambat Trust scholars.

1. What motivated me to volunteer? 

Volunteering is my passion. It was intensified during my college days where I was a member of a socio-civic organization that visit institutions. Now, this passion is being sustained by the many volunteering opportunities in La Salle through our Social Action Office, Book mobile project and other personal endeavors. So, in short, its within me. 

2. What is my personal goal as a storyteller? 

My personal goal is to foster love for reading and develop life-long readers. It is my advocacy now to spread awareness about the many benefits of storytelling to children. 

3. What is my volunteer-storyteller experience prior to this activity? 

I have a lot of storytelling experiences prior to this activity. I usually do storytelling whenever we do Bookmobile project. I also volunteered in ATD Fourth World Philippines in the previous summers. And being a Reading major, storyelling is very essential as we advocate for a literature-based reading program.

4. What are my expectations from this experience?

I don't really expect much but I do hope that the students that we catered during the small group storytelling session realized how reading can make a difference to their lives. 

Filipino Librarian: Ann Grace Bansig

The blog's Ms. March is none other than Ms. Ann Grace Bansig, Readers Services Librarian at De La Salle Zobel School. She's a BS LIS graduate from UP SLIS and is pursuing her masters degree in Reading Education at UP Reading Department, Diliman.

 
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.
 
LIS is not my first course. I never thought that I will become a librarian, seriously. When I first entered UP, I am a Chemical Engineering student. After two years of hard work and frustrations, I began to realize that Engineering is not for me. So, I shifted. Back then, LIS is not  a popular course yet. But during the time that I shifted, many Engineering students are also shifting to LIS course. That’s why we have a running joke about it. We always say that LIS is a very hard course because it requires a two-year Engineering pre-requisite.
 
When I become LIS student, life changes for the better. For one, I was never ineligible to enrol. Two, I always have maximum number of units (18). That’s why I finish the academic subjects in two and a half years plus thesis writing. I also like the general education of the course which was very diverse plus the foreign language course that we had to take.  At SLIS, I led a simple life. I am not active in the library organization because before entering, I am already an active member of a socio-civic organization. 
 
You might wonder, why shift to LIS? Well, I am a hopeless student back then. Looking back, I am very thankful that there was SLIS who accepted me wholeheartedly.
 
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?
 
So far the biggest challenge was how to entice the students to come to the library, read and borrow books because our students are what we call ‘digital learners’. They will rather play the iPad than read books. So we have to do something about it. We did several things to address this challenge such as: redecorating the library (make it more colorful, more inviting and happy in ambiance); putting up a Reading Nook where a portion of the library was carpeted and surrounded by bean bags where students can read in a more relaxed manner; posting regular trivia (yes trivia! And it depends on monthly theme…it is now a regular feature and students are looking forward to it); collaborating with teachers specially with the English department (we had tandem storytelling and literature quiz bee last year ); planning monthly activities (ex. February – Blind date with a book…it’s a success by the way! ); and of course it helps if the librarian reads as well! Given all of these, I am happy to say that our grade school are still readers.

Ms. Bansig in Helinski. She attended the IFLA World Congress 2012 and presented a paper on DLSZ Library's Mobile Library with friend and colleague Darrell Marco (who, I think is the one who took the photo).

c. What is your area of expertise in LIS? 

This is quite hard. I’d say at this point, one will be storytelling to kids. I always love to tell a story especially when we do our Book Mobile Project. 

Two, Children’s Literature as it is one of the fields close to my heart. Three, Library promotion in terms of books and reading.
 
d. What do you think are the requirements and preparations necessary for becoming a LIS professional?
 
More than Education and training, being service-oriented, open-minded, innovative and a heart for librarianship are the requirements necessary for becoming LIS professional especially in this digital era.
 
e. What rewards have you reaped from being a LIS professional? 

I was really surprised to be selected as one of the participants in library management training abroad which was life changing and professionally uplifting. I was also able to present papers both in local and international conferences. I’d say LIS profession has opened a lot of opportunities to me and I plan to grow more in this profession. 
 
I love being a librarian!

Librarians Read Series of 2010

In November 7, 2010, I asked five librarians to guest in the blog and share their reading choices over the years. This blog series was in part, a carry-over of Teen Read Week 2010. From November 8-12, 2012, one Filipino Librarian was featured in the blog. I am re-posting and curating the posts as part of the Filipino Librarian blog series I'll be reviving this month.

The five reading librarians are: Darrel Marco, Ann Grace Bansig, Dean Igor Cabbab, Fe Angela Verzosa, Von Totanes

Would be cool if there's a book discussion group with librarians as members meeting once a month.

Love a Librarian: Staying On! Staying Strong!

I have met many Filipino Librarians who became librarians by chance. Ann Grace Bansig is one of them. In this post, she reflects on the many rewards she had been given by being a school librarian.

Grace has been to Belguim to complete a scholarship grant for young LIS professionals. She is now working as the Upper Grades Readers’ Services Librarian in De La Salle Santiago Zobel School. Currently taking Master’s in Reading Education and a volunteer for the ATD Fourth World Philippines. She just started blogging at ispyalibrarian@blogspot.com.  

Becoming a librarian never entered my mind when I started my college education. While filling up the UPCAT application form, I chose the following courses: Chemical Engineering and Journalism, very far from librarianship! I forgot the courses I chose for another campus though. Luckily, I passed and even got in at the College of Engineering! Two years after, I don’t want to stay at the college anymore but I didn't know where to go?

I only submitted applications to two other colleges, or rather school as I tried to shift direction in my future career path.  One was the School of Social Work and Community Development and second, the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS), then Institute of Library and Information Science (ILIS).  That was the time that I discovered the course. So, to make it short, I made it at the SLIS and right now, I work as a school librarian. Phew! What a way to discover my career. I’d say I am an accidental librarian, but I don’t regret it. During those times, many engineering students are shifting out from Engineering and trying their luck in ILIS. So, thanks to ILIS for accepting me as a shiftee student and for giving me the chance of becoming one of the librarians today. While I was a LIS student, I discovered simultaneously what a paradise the library is and what a joy reading is! Well, that happened maybe because I was deprived of books in public schools that I have attended before. Still, it was never too late to catch up on reading. One can say that I read a lot because of my profession. But the thing is, even if I’m not in this profession I will still read for leisure.

Why I love the profession and still practicing it until now? For one, I really enjoy being a librarian. I like helping children in the library, assisting them if they need a particular book, suggesting books and acquiring books suited for their level. Doing storytelling sometimes is also one of the jobs that I like to do. It is always a joy to interact with kids and discuss some books. I even moderate a book club. In the library, whenever the kids learn that I also read the book that they borrow, they really got amazed! So I can say now that my relationship with books gets deeper and wider the more that I stay in this profession. And I know that I will never get tired of doing my job like selecting books, reading them and sharing them with the patrons. With the emergence of technology, I also take the challenge of encouraging children to read and imparting with them the importance of reading and books. Not only as a profession, but personally I also advocate spreading the love for reading and developing life-long readers. For as long as books exist and there are readers that use the library, I will stay in this profession!

In the future, I would like to blog about books and other interesting stuff about libraries and librarians. I also believe that there are things I can contribute for the betterment of librarianship.

More power to all Filipino Librarians! 

The Reading Librarian: Ann Grace Bansig

Librarians Read Series: Ann Grace Bansig is currently at Flanders, Belguim for a study grant. She was formerly a school librarian at the De La Salle Zobel School.
 
I am a late bloomer reader. But I will just share books that I enjoyed most during the first two years in college and a little during high school. When I discovered the richness of the Main Library, I started borrowing books that are not so related with the academics but gave joyful and great experiences for me as a reader. So here goes my list:

1. Roald Dahl’s books – I really enjoyed the wit and extraordinary humor of this guy. Even though his books are a bit eccentric and psychotic most of the times, I will still recommend his books. In a research I read for my master’s degree, I’ve found out why his books are a bit controversial in terms of the circumstances happened to the characters he created. According to him, bad guys should be punished! Read his books and you’ll see! =)

2. Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series – I think most us read if not the complete series, then some of the books which stars these famous young detectives back in college or earlier. What I love about Joe and Frank is that they are really good in reading the clues, same with Nancy. I even read the book where both the Hardy boys and Nancy Drew worked together in solving mysteries. They are very youthful, romantic sometimes and wholesome in content, no doubt about it! Through time, the versions of their book evolved too as they are now in famous graphic novels.

3. Da Vinci Code – I read this book long before it became so famous! I remembered that it kept me awake one night to finish it because there is a long queue for this by word of mouth from a friend who read it before me. I never regretted the hours I spent just to finish this!

4. Bridge to Terabithia – I’d say this one is sad at the end but the friendship it showed is one of a kind. This book made me shed tears because of the ending. It has a movie adaptation too and I’m happy to say that I was not too disappointed with the film version.

5. Star girl – This is book is about a girl named Susan Caraway, but she uses “Star girl” as a name. Star girl is full of eccentricities and is a non-conformist. She does things that are way beyond the norms. She sings “Happy birthday” to every kid in school even if she does not know them personally. She attends funeral of other people. She cheers the enemy of the school in basketball and leaves coins in the street. What's good about this book, is that it tells us to be true to ourselves. We don’t have to be anything that we are not for fear of rejection.

6. Harry potter series – I met Harry Potter in college through a friend that reads a lot.  She lent me the book one weekend, and starting that time, I became a Hogwarts’ student wannabe. JK Rowling surely knew how to win a reader because until now Harry Potter holds a place in my heart. Though the film versions are a disappointment, I still watch it with my friends because it became a “Harry Potter tradition”.

7. Gone with the wind – Wow, I have a classic on my list! I love this book though a bit thick and long! I persevered to finish it because I want to know the ending of Scarlett O’Hara. Set during the Revolution, women can surely learn something from the wicked ways of lovely Madam O’Hara as she did her best to survive war, famine and love.

8. B1 Gang Series – I don’t know if others were familiar with this series. I think this is the Philippine version of Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mysteries. The gang is composed of four high school teenagers namely: Gino, Kiko, Boging and Jo. They solve mysteries and myths as they travel around the country. I remembered we used them for some book reports. I do hope that they continue publishing these books because they promote Filipino values, heritage and friendship. Plus they can also compete with the influx of foreign books. If we can patronize foreign books, we can also do so with Philippine materials. =)

Books I read in my post-teen age that I want to recommend.
1. Spiderwick Chronicles
2. Percy Jackson series
3. Hunger games trilogy
4. Princess Diaries series
5. The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel
6. Books by Eva Ibbotson
7. Inkheart series
8. Series of Unfortunate Events – good for building vocabulary words
9. Newbery Award winning books
10. Filipiniana books published by Adarna, Tahanan and Lampara

Dear Librarian Reply: Storytelling Program for the Library

For this month's Dear Librarian guest blogger, I have invited Ms. Ann Grace Bansig, School Librarian from the De LaSalle Santiago-Zobel School in Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa. Ms. Bansig is off to Flanders, Belgium next month for a scholarship grant via the STIMULATE 10 Program. Before she leaves Manila, I asked her to participate in this blog's Dear Librarian series which she so willingly accepted.

She lends advise to Mr. Augie Ebreo's question on the planning and implementation of a Storytelling Corner at the library.

Building a storytelling corner in the library is like putting up a playpen for kids in the house. You have to select a very good spot in the library where kids could comfortably read. You also have to select nice bookshelves and additional furniture like carpet and bean bags to make the atmosphere more relaxed and conducive to reading. You could also put a decoration around it. Of course, after that, you have to select books to be displayed in that area. If your purpose is to read aesthetically (leisurely), you could have storybooks both in English and Filipino in that corner. If you have big books, you could also add those. Given all these, your storytelling corner is almost ready.

Now, how are you going to do the storytelling? Storytelling is mostly done with the Lower Grades pupils specifically Kindergarteners up to Grade 3. But sometimes, it is being conducted with the Kindergartens only. To start, you have to coordinate with the Team Leaders (level coordinators) regarding the sessions and schedules. What you can do is to incorporate it with the Library Instruction Program (LIP) if you have one.

In Zobel, the LIP is very much observed and done in the Lower Grades. We conduct it once in a month per level. Coordination is the key word here and also your willingness to implement it. In the beginning, it will look complicated and a little difficult because you have to put a lot of energy and effort to it but once you started, you have to keep it going. The kids will always ask you when they are going to have it again.

Practice and exposure in storytelling also help in honing the art of doing it. Our practice is done during outreach program with the Social Action Office where a librarian is asked to do a storytelling with the kids usually in Calatagan, Batangas. Another exposure for me personally is during transfer of our Book Mobile Project in public school where I am mostly tasked to do this. Attending seminars in storytelling also adds confidence and knowledge on techniques and strategies. Be sure to arm yourself with the necessary tools, the wit and the energy to tell stories once you decide to start. Good luck and have fun in implementing your wonderful plan!

Ms. Bansig loves to run, read and do volunteer work. She is currently enrolled in the Master's Degree Reading Education at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City.