Tandem Telling: Juan Tamad and The Rice Pot

The Regional Conference on School Librarianship: Directions for the Future of School Libraries in Bacolod was, indeed, a memorable conference. I had a great time with friends, old and new, from the profession. Presenting a paper and a workshop was a good breather for me now that I keep a full time job.

When school librarians go out of their schools to see the bigger learning community, horizons are broadened and linkages are fortified. This help in establishing professional learning

network (PLN) that is essential for continuing professional education. In an industry that changes so fast, thanks to technology, a support system via PLN is a compass for the school librarian who navigates a library in a sea of constant influx. PLNs also offer collaborative opportunities to further strengthen programs and services.

The thing with collaboration is that, it can be done in many ways from the simplest to the most complex of tasks. Take for example the storytelling workshop I had in the conference.

In my storytelling workshop, I took the opportunity to tandem tell with another librarian who hails from Bacolod. Mr. Melquiades "Milky" Alipo-on graciously said yes and together we told the story of Juan Tamad and the Rice Pot. This folk tale is from Batangas and is found in the collection Tales From the 7,000 Isles (de Las Casas and Gagatiga, 2011). Batangas is a province in the Southern Tagalog Region of the Philippines. The tandem telling was impromptu. Milky Alipo-on translated into Hiligaynon the Tagalog version I told. And he was awesome! He even sang a lullaby in his mother tongue, the Dandansoy, to add in the story a Negrense flavor. A link of a video clip can be viewed here.

In light of this experience, I could not help but think about the issue on developing resources and materials on the mother tongue. Language is learned orally. To listen and to speak the language leads one into acquiring and learning from it and about it. I will make it a point to always include a tandem telling using the mother tongue in all my workshops.

Now I have to thank Margaret Read McDonald, Dr. Wagupta Tosaa of Thailand for demonstrating this technique way back in 2002  at the Singapore Storytelling Carnival; and to EthnoTec for performing in tandem at the 1st Manila International Storytelling Festival. It was inspirational to watch you all, fantastic storytellers! My gratitude goes out as well to Dean Dina Ocampo of the UP Diliman, College of Education for giving me the opportunity to run a storytelling workshop during the Mother Tongue Instruction Institute in 2009 where in I asked participants to do tandem telling of their favorite folk tale in Filipino and their mother tongue. Such experiences would not have led me to continue on experimenting ways to use tandem telling.

If we all work together and collaborate, surely, we are effectively using our time and putting our talents into good use.

Highlights from the IASL Regional Conference in Bacolod

And so, the IASL Regional Conference in Bacolod folded up. Congratulations to the Rizal Library! Kudos to its director, Dir. Lou David and her team of librarians who made the conference possible: Karryl Sagun, Shielski Montenegro, Fernan Dizon and Waldette Cueto. Three cheers for PASLI, PRISAAP-Bacolod and IASL for a successful collaboration!

I have to say, I enjoyed the conference very much. I made new friends and strengthened old ties with friends from the profession I have known since my younger years in the industry. The three day experience gave me a lot to think about on Philippine school librarianship as well.

L-R Mel Alipo-on, library director of Olivares College, Joseph Marmol-Yap of DLSU Taft, Darell Marco of DLS Zobel and the Karryl Kim Sagun of the Rizal Library present their paper at the IASL Regional Conference

1) There are many young school librarians out there who made their presence felt in the conference. Joseph Marmol-Yap, Darrel Marco, Ann Grace Bansig, Venus Ibarra, Karryl Kim Sagun and Ronald Cabunagan presented interesting papers that speak of new paradigms in school librarianship. This is a hopeful sign.

2) The voice of experience was equally heard. Joy Nera, Mel Alipo-on, Roderick Ramos, Fernan Dizon, Madame Elizabeth Peralejo and Dir. Lou David shared projects, initiatives and best practices in the school library of their affiliations. This mix of the new, the fresh and the seasoned is a promising potential on professional collaboration among school librarians in the Philippines.

3) The majority of speakers came from local schools but the variety of paper topics presented is an indicator of where Philippine school librarianship is at the moment. Indeed, school librarians from the big private schools presented studies and best practices. Representatives from the public school sector were amiss though. It is a good thing that PASLI president, Jude Gorospe, was at the conference. A big challenge is on his shoulders. But, with help from the private sector, like those who presented papers, public school libraries may be able to rise and shine from issues and problems that beset them. We need to work together to develop more libraries especially when it's been identified in research and practice that libraries contribute to student learning and achievement.

Tales From the 7,000 Isles by Dianne de Las Casas and Zarah Gagatiga  was exhibited and sold at the IASL Regional Conference. Thanks to Enoy Ferriol of Scholastic and the Rizal Library for making this possible.

4) The presence of foreign delegates, Prof. Brendan Luyt and Lucia Dhamayanti provided similarities of beliefs in making the library a cool learning space, and bigger challenges for the future. It was Prof. Luyt's presentation that affected me the most. He spoke of going beyond Information Literacy seeing that information and knowledge are dynamic entities. True. For if we look at information and knowledge as static, then we begin to deteriorate. Knowledge creation and information seeking are proactive processes that lead to lifelong learning.

IASL President, Dr. Diljit Singh asks: What is the future of school libraries?

5) Speaking of lifelong learning, Prof Diljit Singh, IASL President, asked questions on how this can be developed in the light of a future that's fast paced and ever changing. He emphasized the necessity to begin with one's self.

6) On a personal level, my attendance to the IASL Conference inspired me to continue growing in the profession. It afforded me to reflect on what I am doing right now as a school librarian, storyteller, PBBY president and literacy advocate for a number of non-government organizations which I support. My head is still brimming with so much information that I still have to process each one at a time. And, with the mission I have set out to accomplish these tasks and advocacy, the hand will do the work of thy will.

Cheers to Philippine school librarianship! Looking forward to the next IASL Conference!