Electric Youth: Teens Speak of Marekting Strategies for the School Library

Bm g12 marketing_lib_feedback from Zarah Gagatiga

Good PR for Filipino Librarians

Ronald Lim, writer and journalist has written once again about us, Filipino Librarians and the online presence that we have been making of late. In his article about Prof. Igor Cabbab's seminar at the Manila International Book Fair yesterday, Lim featured Prof. Cabbab's initiatives on using online and internet technology to an improved library service.

Kudos to Prof. Cabbab who has been getting good press lately. What's more, my blog and Von Totanes' blog, and the "popular" blogging that we do about what we do and who are were briefly mentioned too. Along with it is the breaking of Filipino librarian stereotypes. It could not have come at a better time since Vilma Santos is recently starring in a commercial movie as the typical "losyang" (unglamorous) librarian.

Just a note when you read up the link. My blog's name is SCHOOL LIBRARIAN IN ACTION and not Filipino Librarian In Action. Nonetheless, thanks to Ronald Lim for this write up. He wrote about my blogging adventures a few years back. Sadly, the online article could no longer be found in Manila Bulletin's web page. It seems that we have some good connections and friends in print and online media.

Origami In The Library

The school library is a place that promotes excitement and engagement to activities geared to learning. Film viewings and storytelling sessions at lunch time are staple activities for our grade school students. Exhibits of works of art by students are a an added treat. Displays on glass classes, a collection of coins, Pokemon toys and dolls, souvenirs from trips abroad, pique the interest of the curious. Contests and games challenges the skills of the competitive.

Just yesterday, art and competition meet and match for the GS LRC's Origami Contest. It was a well participated contest with students from grade 2-4 as the main focus of the activity. There were nine contestants who registered and each brought with them their own origami paper. Indeed they came prepared because weeks before, they borrowed origami books for practice. The results were amazing!

Next to dinosaur books, origami books are a favorite of the students. The art of paper folding dates back to ancient China but has been adapted by other cultures. Japan was the most bedazzled by this art of precision, accuracy and neatness that the Japanese has enshrined this art form into the sublime. Along with Ikebana, origami espouses discipline and spiritual aesthetics. But of course, the contest was all for the spirit of fun and art development.

Winners of the contest were given certificates of recognition and a chance for their works to be displayed. A dinosaur, a scaled dragon and a rooster were the objects of the winner's piece. The activity was in coordination between the Art Department of the Grade School and the GS Learning Resource Center. Here we see another role of the school library -- a conduit to the integration of skills and disciplines.

Reading, Writing and Drawing @ The Library

The GS LRC, in coordination with the GS English Department whipped up an author-illustrator visit for the grade 7 students this morning. Fran Ong of Ilaw ng Tahanan Publishing worked it out with us to make the event possible.

Award winning author, teacher, journalist, book reviewer and reading advocate, Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz shared with the boys, her life as a writer, her books and the long and tedious road to publication. Her session was filled with rich stories of more than 40 years of her writing history and personal experiences.

At the same time, illustrator and digital artist Joel Chua, an alumnus of Xavier School (Batch 95), showed samples of his works, digital art works and published books. It was Joel's Home-School Communication Notebook (HSCN) that brought great interest to the boys since he used it as a sketch book/comic book cum school planner. Half of the pages contained school related information, schedules and list of "to do's" The other half were filled with his drawings - panels with drawings in different colors of ink.

If Neni mentioned her diary as starting point to an illustrious writing career, Joel has his HSCN as seed bed for his artistic inclinations. Every person with a dream had to start somewhere. Who knows, one of the students who listened to Neni and Joel this morning may just begin a story or a drawing that could start of something big.

Their sessions were enriched by writing and drawing activities done by the guest author and illustrator with the students.

Kenneth Yu: Reading Idol

Mr. Kenneth "Kyu" Yu, publisher and editor of Philippine Genre Stories, dropped by the GS Learning Resource Center last Tuesday, September 30, 2008. He was in the Xavier School campus as a visiting author to Fr. Johnny Go's grade 7 GEMS English class.

As a student in Xavier School, Kenneth Yu's favorite hang-out place was the library. Inspired by a book of myths, he and some friends adapted and wrote their own collection of Greek myths. The library, fortunately, still has a copy of their book project. Go here for the historical profile of Kenneth Yu's first foray in writing, editing and publishing. It's a story every teacher and school librarian will love!

Now here's an excerpt of an interview that Kyu lent us via email.

What book would you like to see in electronic format available online and why?

Hmm...I'm not sure. Being a publisher, I guess I'd like to see all books in electronic format, but in a legal way. I'm afraid of piracy affecting writers and publishers and taking away what is due them. But in any case, I would love to see all works whose copyright has legally lapsed to be made available in electronic format. So, Shakespeare, Dante, Poe, Hugo, Stevenson, and other classics should be made available. In fact, I think they are, via www.gutenberg.org. :) Hooray! There's no excuse now to not read these classics, as long as you've got a computer and an internet connection.

Amidst the busyness of daily library work and routine, we hope to whip up a write up on Kyu as our reading idol for the month of October.

Keeping The School Library Alive

Right after my PBBY seminar-workshop, I'll be running to Vibal Publishing House's booth in the Manila International Book Fair. See you there on September 13, 2008 at 10.45 pm!

The Living Library: Promotions and Marketing Strategies to Keep the School Library Alive

The seminar presents a slew of fun and exciting activities, projects and ideas that will keep students and teachers in utilizing the school library. Participants will be exposed to making a PR Plan and Readers’ Services Program that will lead to a visible library deemed by the school administration as a very important academic department.

Wild & Crazy Librarians

Among the many things that struck me from the 3rd Rizal Library Conference, From Classroom to Career: Roadmaps to a Library's Success, it was Anne Riedling's 5 Little Rules With Big Impact that I consider as the most inspiring. She gave these simple rules to live by-

1.Lighten up! ☺
2. Say Thank you ☺
3. Take Care of yourself ☺
4. Do something wild and crazy ☺
5. Make an active choice ☺

Librarians have so much work to finish; so many issues to settle; so many concerns to contend with that often, stereotypes arise from such seriousness. But really, librarians are a lot of fun! Unless a more positive attitude is adapted, people who are outside the circle will always perceive librarians as lifeless, useless and boring. To quote another speaker from the same conference, librarians who do not break the mould run the risk of being categorized as a "non performing asset". Not a good perception of librarians at all.

Days before attending the Rizal Library conference, I've "bullied" my librarians to a chamber theatre style of storytelling for our preschool students in the Early Education Department (EED). At that time, the teachers in the EED were planing Book Week and Pet Week celebrations. They wanted to treat the preschoolers to a week long literacy activities and an awareness for the care of animals. How did the librarians take the "bulying"? There were apprehensions and anxieties, of course, since not all are comfortable telling stories. It does take a lot of guts to tell, besides. But chamber theatre is one technique where everyone has a part to play. Big or small, the task contributes to the overall result. It is a team effort. And yes, it can be fun too!

So, after adapting the script (thanks to Dianne delas Casas)of a well loved and familiar fable, The Ant and The Grasshopper, all four of us sat down and discussed. A new and a more detailed script included the background, music and a video clip. We had no time to practice since I was out for two days. I was assured that even in my absence, the rest of the team delivered. And they did, true enough. They may have had worries and felt the nervousness all over, but I know I can always depend on them. On the day of the performance, everything fell into place. There were little slips in the first session, but in a live perfromance, it is expected. I'm proud at how we all contributed to the work. The boys had fun and I suppose, the teachers had their share of laughs and amusement too.

What wild and crazy things can we do next?

Storytelling for Parent Volunteers

Several weeks before Book Week celebration, the Early Education Department invites the GS LRC to give a Storytelling workshop-orientation for parent volunteers. Today, I facilitated the workshop to more or less 30 parents. These parents will tell stories to their son's class for thirty minutes in a given day during Book Week. Most of the parents are eager beavers who are gungho at it. There are also parents who are anxious at the mere thought of facing a room full of five year old boys.

The workshop is very simple, really, since most parent volunteers will be doing this for the first time. I give them the basic, sort of a Storytelling 101. The read aloud technique is very popular and the most easy so I provide them with other ways of telling stories. See the picture of a beagle at the right side? It's the product of a story kniffing technique. One can tell stories while drawing lines, shapes and squiggles. It's fun! Even the parents are at awe. In years past parents would turn out in their best form. I'm excited at how these batch of parents will stand and deliver.

Books & Idols

The GS LRC has been busy the past few months with its regular programs and services. With PAASCU accreditation hovering a good distance and time away, work is already pouring in buckets. Nevertheless, it takes time to advocate and campaign for the utility of books and the genuine love for reading.

Boys Don’t Cry, But They Read

Is reading a passive activity? Is reading only for girls? Think again.

Reading may involve minimal physical movement, but it activates and shapes the mind to think creatively and critically beyond the written text. As opposed to conventional wisdom, reading is enjoyed not only by girls but by boys as well.

For the past three months since the conception of the Reading Idol, a reading campaign for books and reading, the GS LRC has featured male faculty members as avid readers. GS Asst. Principal for Unit 3, Dr. Jojo Ng and CLE teacher, Mr. Edwin Pangantijon proved that boys do read. Hopefully, their modeling of the reading habit is one practice that grade school boys can carry on until their high school and college years.

Mr. Pangantijon was the Reading Idol for the month of August. He shares with the boys his stance on reading – that no matter how busy a person can be, one has to find the time read in order to live a full life. The following month, it was Dr. Jojo Ng who graced the “hall of idols” in the Reading Area of the GS LRC. He extends the reading habit to his seven-year old son, Sage. They read together and enjoy the visual metaphors of graphic novels. As an advocate of marine life, scuba diving and care for the environment, Dr. Ng’s bible is the book, Philippine Coral Reefs by Scott D. Tuason.

Who could be the next reading idol? Now that is something to watch out for!

Abuzz about Books

Oh yes, to talk about books is such a pleasurable activity!

Last October 9, 2007, the GS LRC offered a book talk session for our Grade School Middle Level Administrators (MLA). GS Librarians picked books from the Teachers' Collection that were deemed appropriate for the busy MLA. These books are new titles purchased last year and early this school year. It was Mr. Oyet Concepcion, GS Librarian who did a fine job at presenting the18 titles of new books. These fall under three topics - Classroom Management, Assessment & Evaluation, Educational Management & Leadership.

The Book Talk session is one way to encourage teachers and staff to borrow from the GS LRC. It is also a strategy to showcase the professional expertise of librarians – that, apart form the routine tasks that they do, they have the product knowledge necessary in recommending resources for instruction and professional enrichment. The GS LRC is open for invitations from department coordinators to conduct book talk sessions. Aside from books, librarians can share new resources in AV and online formats.

When Books Talk!

This PowerPoint presentation was used by one of our GS librarians in a book talk for Middle Level Administrators.

A Library for Preschool Teachers & Kids

In 1995, I began work as school librarian for the Preschool library of Xavier School. With an existing program, all I had to do was implement it. Twelve years after, the Early Education Learning Resource Center (EED LRC) has grown in more ways than one.

In terms of collection, the EED LRC now houses 5,000 print and AV resources. The library period for Nursery is slowly being resurrected after a couple of years of restructuring schedule and curriculum. Prep students are regularly being given library encounters and they have begun borrowing books. Special programs like puppet shows and film viewing are provided for students in the preschool unit.

The EED LRC, aside from functioning as reading and literacy center for students, is also a resource center for preschool teachers. Through the varied instructional materials available in the center, teachers have laid their trust on the EED LRC to deliver services and programs that agree and meet their teaching needs.

GS LRC Mediashoppe 2007

Can you guess how many books the GS LRC have in its collection? This was the question that greeted GS teachers last June 1, 2007, Friday for their annual Mediashoppe at the Storytelling Area of the GS LRC. Given by the GS LRC to collaborate with teachers in the development of learning resources, this year's Mediashoppe was the most, if not successful, organized Mediashoppe yet.

The program began with an orientation of basic library services and programs for the sake of the new hires. Junior and senior teachers are already familiar with the GS LRC's features, but a quick walk through on the LRC's services was a big help to remind them that a department that supports their instructional needs exist in the community. What was new for everyone, newbie and seasoned teachers alike, was the DOORS Project of Mrs. Chit Olivares, Reference Librarian.


The Directory of Online Resources (DOORS) is a project initiated by Mrs. Olivares to enrich the print and non-print collection of the library with online resources. Using FURL, she was able to build a list of useful sites for teachers who can use them in the different content areas. Another relevant information provided by the Mediashoppe was the presentation of the ITS-AV Integrated Office by Ms. Garce Aromin, ITS Coordinator. Beginning this school year, reservations of equipment, facilities and tech support will be provided by the ITS. The GS LRC will concentrate on content and knowledge management of the AV collection. In this structure, it is foreseen that more resources will be utilized by the community.

Teachers were able to select and review learning resources possible for acquisition this school year. With their MLAs present, it can be truly said that the administrators are involved in this process of building the library's collection. They also got to view new titles of materials, journals and books available for their perusal.

It was Mr. Ronald Briones of the GS Science department who got the correct estimate on the volume of the LRC's collection. Without the hard work of Mrs. Jane Diaz, Readers Servcies Librarian, who put the Mediashoppe together, and the support of Mrs. Jane Natividad, GS Principal, it would not have been possible for the GS LRC and the GS teachers from the different departments to have a fun and fruitful morning of collaborative work.