Live Blogging: Seminar Workshop on Organizing the Library at the Makati Library Hub

Presenting right now is Ms. Leonila Galvez, consultant for Library Hub, DepEd Central Office on best practices, reading activities and programs for the school library. We are here in Makati Elementary School where the Library Hub workshop on Organizing a Library is being held. We are speakers to sixty teacher librarians.

This morning, I did a perspective taking on library concepts and emphasized the important role that librarians do in learning communities. I gave them basic principles in organizing a library and provided steps in setting up a book collection. I showed samples of online directories and e-book collections. Wikis. Pathfinders. LibGuides. Librarian made online directories via google sites.

The participants enjoyed my read aloud of Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk using an ebook. I couldn't find my print copy so I bought on Amazon. I got the same response from the teachers. They were engaged and entertained. Because the ebook was projected using a LCD, everyone can see the colorful visuals of the illustrated story books.

After Madme. Leony Galvez, I will be working with the teachers for a book making project.

Filipino Librarians of the Month: The Deped Calamba Library Hub Librarians

L-R Elinor, Zarah and Myra

Last October, I was at the Deped Calamba Library Hub for a training session on reading activities among teachers of the Calamba public school system. This reading session came after my three day stint at the 6th Rizal Library International Conference. Organized by two librarians, Elinor Hemedes and Myra Ortega, the reading session went on smoothly to the delight of the participants.

I did not lecture nor presented theories that are way too big since they all came from a week long training session by the DepEd. We just read and talked about what we read about. The teachers felt relaxed. One of the participants said, "Bitin ang training, ma'am." (The training is too short).

But at the session's core are Elinor and Myra who work together in the Deped Library Hub system of Calamba, Laguna. Both afforded me an interview for the blog. Here are Elinor's answers to the interview questions.

1. Why did you decide to work in the DepEd library hub system?

I have decided to work in DepEd because I can't let this kind of opportunity pass. Also, I wanted to experience managing this unique kind of library system.

2. What are the challenges you face in managing the library hub? How do you overcome these challenges?

The main challenge that we face in managing the hub is increasing our borrowers, only few schools are patronizing our hub. To overcome this we seek support from our schools' division management team. We also plan our activities that will highlight the services of the hub. So far, we promoted the hub by organizing a training for the teacher librarians. We hope that through the training they were able to see the hub as a reading center. The hub books were also used during the storytelling contest for the reading month. Through this teachers were able to visit the hub and utilize our collection.

3. What are the success stories you have so far?

The pupils enjoy the library visit and participating in reading activities. The hub offers fun filled activities such as storytelling and word games. They were enthusiastic when they get to choose the books they want to read during their DEAR time. And lastly, successfully organizing a training for teacher librarians for the whole division of Calamba city, then receiving lots of positive feedback from the participants after [is an accomplishment].

Quality Books Exhibit

I got an invitation from the National Book Development Board via email --

DepEd and  NBDB Set Quality Books Exhibit--open to everyone, no entrance nor registration fees.

In celebration of Philippine Book Development Month, the Department of Education and the National Book Development Board are holding a first-ever exhibition of Highly Recommended Supplementary Materials on Nov 27-28 at 10am -5pm at the Mega Trade Hall 1. SM Megamall. The exhibiton will feature about 1600 awardwinning book titles and other books endorsed by the NBDB. About 20 publishers are participating.

These were gathered from the National Book Award winners and finalists, National Children's Book Awards, Gintong Aklat Award winners and finalists, Madrigal-Gonzalez First Book Award winners, Carlos Palanca Memorial Award winners, MAN Asia Literary Prize Filipino winners and finalists, NBDB Quality Seal Textbooks, and Highly Recommended Books selected by the Metrobank Foundation Network of Outstanding Teachers and Educators (NOTED). Copies of the list of quality books which will be updated yearly will be available.

The event is meant to help teachers and administrators from both public and private schools in selecting Philippine titles for supplementary reading and library collections. There will also be lectures on Textbook Development in the Mother Tongue, Translating Textbooks, Teaching with a Local Cultural Perspective, and Choosing Supplementary Materials and other related topics. National Artist Virgilio Almario leads the roster of speakers. DepEd will be represented by Sec. Armin Luistro and Usec Francis Varela.

All are welcome to attend. The exhibit and the workshops are free of charge.

For more info, call the NBDB at 920-9853, 929-3677, 929-3887 or visit www.nbdb.gov.ph 

I got the invite from the chair of the NBDB herself so I feel compelled to go. I'll think I shall enjoy myself.

Web 2.0 and Cataloging Basics for Lib Hub Teacher Librarians

Last July 2, I gave a training for teachers and librarians assigned in the Library Hubs of the national capitol region. The training consisted of Web 2.0 technology for school libraries and Cataloging Basics for non-librarians. As expected, the morning began with the usual politics, songs and dances. The pride of Commonwealth Elementary School, grade school children who are members of the dance troupe, were fantastic in their rendition of traditional folk dances. The principal of the school, Dr. Modelo, welcomed the participants of the training session.

Despite the technological problems -- WIFI and Internet connection -- I survived the morning session, giving a lecture the traditional way. We resorted to moving to another venue for better WIFI and Internet connection. Thanks to the school principal for extending himself and making sure that the staff helped in making us all comfortable.

The afternoon session assaulted us with humidity and a down pour. But we were all smiles as we went through the process of basic cataloging. Classification and Cataloging is a two course offering in library school. I had to compress basic theories and procedures for a training session of three hours with workshop. I focused on principles and process of cataloging using the Dewey Decimal System as classification scheme.

The workshop that followed was a no-sweat, no-brainer classification and cataloging session. The participants worked on basic bibliographic entries with subject assignments for each book. Thanks to Adarna House for making this workshop possible! Ms. Genia Santos, Regional Director of Library Hub - NCR, has been very cooperative showing commitment to the goals of the library hub project. Here's hoping that, in the future, more functional library hubs will be set up.

Live Blogging: SAS-HSBC Kinder K(C)ollege Conference Day 4

Today is the fourth day of the Sa Aklat Sisikat (SAS)-HSBC Kinder K(C)ollege Conference. Last week, the whole Sunday was spent learning and relearning educational theories and psychology concepts that are essential to preschool instruction. Ms. Germelina Salumbides did a great job at encapsulating important concepts and pedagogy for preschool teaching.

On this last day of the conference Teacher Ria Tirazona of Playschool International, is providing a session on the different learning styles and strategies to understand and appreciate children with special needs. What made me sit up and listen was her presentation on the essentials of play. Here are my notes from her discussion --

Play stimulates the brain. With out play, higher thinking is impossible to achieve.

Play encourages holistic development as it covers mental and cognitive challenges; emotional and social responses; and physical experiences that contribute to good health.

There are many kinds of play - free play, guided play and directed play.

Children go through stages of play - solitary play, onlooker play, parallel play, associative play.

Responses to the different kinds and stages of play is an indicator of the child's current mental, emotional, social and developmental maturity.

Play is THERAPY.

I look back at my own childhood and recall the amount of play I did. It's never too late to catch up on lost play time.

Live Blogging: SAS HSBC Kinder K(C)ollege Conference

I'm emceeing for Day 2 of Sa Aklat Sisikat's Kinder K(C)ollege Conference. Ms. Germs Salumbides, educator and consultant, facilitated an engaging session on Piaget and basic educational theories earlier. Now, the participants are doing small group discussions on the theories, both psychological and philosophical that has an implication in education specially, preschool level. What's effective about Ms. Germs is her practical approach to teaching backed up by theories.

Some ideas I got from her this morning --

Teach kids how to think so they can READ. Teach them how to THINK so they can read.

TV is the biggest stumbling block in symbolization. It discourages hypothesis building. Hypothesizing is essential to critical thinking.

The most human act is hypothesizing.

There are many ways to teach reading.

Use the child's vocabulary if coverage of textbook is far from his or her own experience.

The SAS- HSBC Kinder K(C)ollege Conference supports the DepEd's preschool program. The participants are fifty preschool teachers from selected public schools in the National Capitol Region (NCR).

Live Blogging: Wanted 105 Librarians

The day has come to an end. We're saying our goodbyes but participants will go back to the training hall next Saturday, 11 September for another workshop by Klasrum Adarna. Troy Lacsamana ended the day with activities and library initiatives they do in the Public Library System.



What made the afternoon interesting was the presence of Madame Beverly Gonda, Project Manager of DepEd Library Hub. She answered most of the questions that cloud the participants' mind. The presence of licensed librarians is a demand. The news is, since 2007, 105 job openings for librarians to man the hubs was made. The problem is, there are no applicants. Starting salary is salary grade twelve. The question now is this -- who is willing and committed to work in the public school system particularly in the DepEd?

Live Blogging: Madame Digna Aquino, Library Hub Coordinator

Retirement for Madame Digna Aquino was the next step after years of teaching in basic education. Destiny has other plans though. She was assigned as coordinator of the Pasig Library Hub just when she was about to throw in the towel. She was hesitant, of course. She's a teacher, not a librarian. What does she know of library management, cataloging and the technical job of a librarian? A true public servant, she accepted the job despite her fears. With enough courage, a set of leadership skills and "abilidad", she was able to seek support from the local government unit and make the Pasig Library Hub the exemplar for DepEd's project on literacy development.



I was amazed at her sprite and spunk. She has indeed made the library hub in Pasig City a living library. By developing linkages and networking, she was able to make things happen -- storytelling sessions and contests abound, donations for library furniture and library manpower came her way, political and administrative support were never wanting. The result was the participation of library clients, students, teachers and parents in making the library hub a busy center of reading and literacy activities.

Now, as participants break for lunch, I turn to the processing of Madame Digna Aquino's input. Later, they will share and articulate answers to questions I wanted them to reflect on. Speaking for myself, I could only wish for the ideal. How great it would be if all librarians innately posses the leadership skills or are trained to become leaders in their field! Impossible I know. But thanks to all the Digna Aquinos out there for showing us that dreams can be actualized. Librarian or not, we all can learn from her experience and example.

Live Blogging: Klasrum Adarna - Library Hub Improvement

Adarna House celebrates its thirtieth year of being the Filipino's child's provider of his/her first books. In line with this, they have planned more projects to help the public educational system of the country. It's extending its reach and digging deep into its resources to give back and continuously make a difference.

One of these projects is the Klasrum Adarna Library Improvement Training Workshop. The DepEd Officers of the Library Hub in the National Capitol Region has graciously and willingly agreed to the partnership. From this workshop, teachers, librarians and library hub coordinators are expected to come up with exciting and enticing activities to make the lib hub in their school alive and kicking.

A few weeks back, I set up a working outline for today's workshop. On the last minute, I changed it entirely because I realized that I need to meet the lib hub personnel of each school where they are currently at. Back to the basics. The previous outline is something I can articulate with the lib hub administrators. For today's participants, I'm giving then a KISS - Keep It Sweet and Simple.

Topics for discussion this morning will include the following: Reading and the Library, Roles of Libraries and Librarians, Models of Library Operations, Activities to Promote Books, Reading and the Library. In the afternoon, we will have a workshop on concerete activities that can be done.

Ms. Digna Aquino of the Pasig Library Hub and Mr. Troy Lacsamana of the Quezon City Public Library will be providing real life success stories of library activities they've done for their library clients.

Working Outline for Lib Hub Workshop

In between writing and consultancy work, I'm squeezing the workshop module for the Lib Hub workshop in my schedule. The Lib Hub is one project of the DepEd where I have always wished to be a part of. At least, in my own little way. Thanks to Adarna House for giving me the opportunity.

Klasrum Adarna
Library Hub Seminar-Workshop
Working Outline

9:00 – 9:15 – Introduction/Perking Up
9:15 – 10:00 - What is a library?
- literal and dictionary definition
- a. A library is a culture
- b. A library is a community
- c. A library is a learning and information center
- d. A library is composed of systems and processes
- e. A library is a discipline
The Role of the School Library
☺ DepEd School Library Guidelines Or. No. 6
☺ Board for Librarians School Library Standards
☺ IFLA-UNESCO School Library Guidelines

10:00-10:15 – BREAK

10:15 – 12:00 – Models of School Library Development (Singh, 2003)
The School Librarian as Library Hub Coordinator
School Library Management 101
SWOT Analysis

12:00 – 1:00 - LUNCH

1:00 – 3:30 Presentation of SWOT Analysis
SWOT Action Plan

Prevailing Challenges:
☺ Leadership (Totanes, 2005)
☺ Budgeting and Financial Support
☺ Library User Education

3:30 – 4:00 Open Forum

Lib Hub Workshop by Klasrum Adarna

I have prayed for this. God indeed answers prayers.

Title: Klasrum Adarna: Library Improvement Workshop for Library Hubs in NCR
Date and Time: September 4, 2010 - Saturday - 9am-4pm
Venue: DepEd Main Office in QC
Maximum no. of participants: 60 pax
Target profile: 16 Lib Hub Coordinators and the rest will be teacher librarians from public schools who borrow from these hubs

Objectives:

1. To prepare Lib Hub Coordinators for the 3-month long Most Improved Library Hub Campaign which will run from September to November of this year. The competition will be funded by Adarna House and the top three library hubs with the most number of borrowers during the competition period will be awarded on Dec 6, 2010. The prizes are a computer package, an audio visual system, and a document projector.

2. To be one of 2 workshops that will give lib hub coordinators and teacher librarians of public schools tips on how they can improve their hubs. There will be a storytelling workshop by Jay Menes for the same group on Sept 11.

3. To help address Library Hub issues through the help of Pasig's Lib Hub Coordinator, Ms. Digna Aquino. She will be allowed to give a 1 hour talk during the workshop.

The major issues that discourage teachers from borrowing books from the Library Hub are:

1. Difficulty in transporting books from the Hub to the schools. Each title comes in a crate. They will have to own or rent a big vehicle to be able to borrow more titles.

2. Lack financial support for transporting books and creating library activities to encourage kids to read.

3. Penalties for lost and damaged books.

Dear Librarian Reply to Public School Librarian In Koronadal City

The venerable Fe Angela Verzosa of the De La Salle University provides response to Arvin Tejada who wrote me about the plight of the DepEd Library Hub in Koronadal City. Madame Verzosa gives an inspiring and encourage reply to Mr. Tejada.

Dear Arvin,

The state of our public school library system is sadly dismal and discouraging. So reading your letter to School Librarian in Action about your plight as a public school librarian brought me back to the reality that stabs at the core of school librarianship in this country.

As librarians, we know that the heart of a school is its library. But do our elected and appointed government policy-makers acknowledge this as a fact? A library in every public school was, is, and will never be high on the political and educational agenda of our country for as long as these policy-makers and even our local school officials are under the misguided direction that focuses only on shortages of classrooms, teachers, and textbooks. Do they realize that there are acute shortages of libraries and professionally-trained librarians too?

It is not enough that we pay lip service to the promotion of the value of reading among the young. The order of the day is to ensure that every primary and secondary school has a library with a trained librarian. That a school library is an absolute “must” (just as important as a classroom with a trained teacher) is crucial to the economic, political and social progress of every nation, and the sooner our government accepts this as a reality, the better for our country if it has to survive, prosper, and compete in the 21st century global information society.

If it’s any consolation to the present challenges and difficulties confronting our school librarians, the ongoing 5-year old Library Hub project of DEPED is now doing well in providing assistance to our public school libraries. Let’s just hope that the project will go beyond its present objective of providing “a transitory warehouse for books waiting to be loaned to public schools on a rotation basis” (borrowing the words of Mindanaolibrarian). There is more to learning than having a room filled with books.

They say that “in the middle of difficulties lie opportunities.” With more Arvin Tejadas among the ranks of our school librarians who are doing “missionary work” as teachers and librarians, we can look forward to greater reading opportunities for our young children.

So Arvin, I take my hat off to you and the many “unsung” hero-librarians who, despite great odds, persevere in their commitment and dedication to make a difference. “READ TO LIVE” (Flaubert)

Fe Angela Verzosa
De La Salle Univeristy

Dear Librarian: Public School Librarian From Koronadal City

Our Dear Librarian sender for this month is Mr. Arvin Tejada, a public school librarian from Koronadal City. He narrates his plight and experiences working as school librarian there.

Dear Ms. Zarah,

Thank you for inspiring us through your blog site. I often visit your site and it always gives me hope that we can make a change in the field of librarianship. How I wish you can also help us in our advocacy. I'm a Division Librarian of Koronadal City Division - Library Hub, Region 12.

I was hired as Division librarian just last December 2009. Before I decided to transfer in the library hub, I worked as academic librarian at Notre Dame of Marbel University for 13 years. But when I was told by one of the Supervisors of the Koronadal City Division of the new item (librarian), I began to weigh things. First, I enjoyed working in an academic environment. Second, I was trained and developed as a librarian. And lastly, I am working with a dynamic support from the administration. But these were the things I am also contemplating on why I should cross the bridge.

Basically, I want to make a DIFFERENCE in our Division, in helping change the image of public school libraries. Next is to initiate programs and activities that will promote libraries in the public schools, and finally, for the reason of security and tenure… government can assure of my future, somehow.

I tried to figure out what will be my role in the library hub since the concept of it is opposite to a real functional library. With my 6 months stay, I realized that I need to re-educate and provide more training to our school librarian-designate since they don't have that formal education in Library Science.

I already gave them orientation about the Library Hub operations as well as a short idea on how to develop their school library last June 2010 but sad to note that most of them really don't have library materials. I learned from your blog, and it’s true, they simply stack all textbooks inside the small room and call it their library.

[Quoting from a previous post]
“…Librarians can establish learning communities through the provision of learning resources and information…”


In our case, there were librarian-designate who have the will but were not supported by the local administrators

“…They can work with teachers to further one's professional growth. They can act as team "teachers" who lend support in teaching and instruction. Librarians can model the reading habit to children and guide teens on making decisions on simple to complex school projects. Librarians, just like teachers, can effect and affect change as he/she preserves the heritage and legacies of a culture and a nation…”

Maybe, if the higher DepEd authorities will realize the importance of a full- time librarian, public schools can certainly help school children develop the love of books and reading at an early age. I think the Philippine Association of School Librarians, Inc. (PASLI) can help on this matter. Submit a proposal to the DepEd. I don’t know, it’s just my idea.

We already started the ocular visit in every school to check the status of their library. The loaning of books to the schools through their librarian-designate is now an ongoing activity. There are so many plans that I need to do both for the library hub and for the school libraries. Maybe one of these days, we can invite you to conduct seminars for our teachers and school librarians. Thank you ma’am for spending your time...

I will reply to Alvin in the next couple of days. I have invited a guest blogger as well to lend encouragement and inspiration to Arvin. Keep visiting!