Library hub opens in Zapatera Elem School By Alfie Sollano and Vanessa Barcial, USJ-R /FPL (The Freeman) October 10, 2010

CEBU, Philippines - A library hub opened yesterday in Zapatera Elementary School to cater to children’s need of supplementary books.


The library hub is a program by the Department of Education that aims to address the lack of public libraries across the country.


The Rotary Club of Cebu West donated 30,000 different books and other reading materials to the hub.


Rotary Club of Cebu West president John Pages said another 40-footer container van of books, computers and fire fighting gadgets from Singapore are coming for the hub.

Pages said the 30,000 books they turned over yesterday to the library hub came from the United States through their “books for the seas program,”


“Ako gyud ang nagpili ani nga mga libro sa Manila,” Pages said.

Zapatera Elementary School was chosen as the place for the hub because the facilities are well managed and there are spaces available for the hub.


The school is only one of the 123 public schools in the city that will be benefited of the project.


Dr. Rosalinda Quijada of the Department of Education said this is new to the system of education.


“Nindot kaayo ni nga system kay unlike sa una nga ang mga libro ma-divide unya mag-ilog na ang mga estudyante. Karon tanan sila pwede na makagamit pinaagi sa atong project,” Quijada said.


The idea of a library hub is to have a main warehouse of books where the schools in Cebu City Districts can borrow. It is aimed to have zero non-reading students in the city and encourage them to be book lovers.


“Gihimo ni namo para ang mga bata makat-on sa pagbasa ug pagsuwat. Ang aim karon sa DepEd nga wala nay bata sa Cebu nga dili kamao mobasa kay we believe that using these books can be one way of improving our society,” Quijada said.


The Cebu City government has hired two librarians to take care of the hub. The hub has 212 bins or receptacle to carry the books to the different schools in the city who wish to borrow them.


Quijada said the school can borrow the bin for one month. It is rotated until all students in the said school could use it.


Each school is provided with borrower’s card and is given a month for it. However, if the book is lost or damaged, the Department of Education will not give the clearance slip until the problem is resolved. (FREEMAN)

WITH CLUB’S HELP, HUB TRIES TO MAKE “NATION OF READERS” Rebelander S. Basilan

The building is well - furnished, complete with a storage room, a book – binding and repair room, a conference room and an audiovisual room.

          But there’s more to this building than the thousand of books and booklets inside it, some nearly arranged in shelves and other in bins.  It houses a big dream: creating a nation of readers.

Located at the Zapatera Elementary school, the “Library Hub” serves as a reservoir of reading materials the Department of Education (Deped) aims to gather for every school division.  It was established through the joint effort of DepEd, the Cebu City Government and the Rotary Club of Cebu West(RCCW).

“The Philippines is not a reading nation,” said Cebu City Schools Division Library Hub Coordinator Rosalinda T. Quijada.  “This program by DepEd aims to develop the love for reading among our children.”

Among the objectives of the program is to provide all public school pupils and students greater access to reading materials and develop their reading and comprehension.

The RCCW , which also has a program for education called Book Across The Seas, donated 30,000 books to the Library Hub.

“These books we donated came from the United States,” said RCCW President John Pages, a businessman.

Cebu City Schools Division Superintendent Rhea Mar A. Angtud said the books and facilities donated by RCCW and the Cebu City Government ”will go a long way.”

“These books will not only add to the knowledge of our students, they will also add to their love for reading,” Angtud said.

Cebu City Vice Mayor Joy Augustus G. Young said he was “impressed and very happy” to see the “useful” books.  He said the City Government had received books in the past that were not relevant.

“When you donate books, please make sure they are useful,” he said.

Angtud also thanked the City Government for hiring permanent librarians for the Library Hub.

Quijada said that under the program, schools may borrow books for up to one month.  The library is open to the community but prioritizes public schools.  The Library Hub at the Zapatera Elementary School intends to cater to 54schools in the north district.

Young said he has asked Mayor Michael Rama to give funds for the purchase of more books.

“You’ll be touched and teary-eyed when you see children fighting over books that you’ve thrown ,”he said.