National Library of the Philippines, Manila

The National Library of the Philippines is located in Ermita, a district in Manila that is a center of finance, education, and culture. Among its collection are manuscripts of works by José Rizal, a national hero of the Philippines.  Rizal (1861–1896) was an ophthalmologist and writer who advocated reforms for his country, when it was still a Spanish colony. In 1887, the National Library of the Philippines originated when a Museum-Library of the Philippines was founded by a Royal order of the Spanish government. It opened in 1891 with only 100 volumes. The first archivist-librarian was Don Benito Perdiguero, a member of the Spanish Association of Librarians. Don Benito was the son of a famous bookseller from Madrid, and established a book store in Manila in 1879.

The Museum-Library was closed when the United States of America colonized the Philippines in 1898. At the time, the library owned about 1,000 books.  The books were transferred to the private library of the then-director, later to be an important past of the National Library’s current collection. In 1900, an American Circulating Library (ACL), dedicated to the memory of American soldiers who died in the Philippine–American War opened. 1,000 books were donated by the Red Cross Society of California and other American organizations. By 1901, the collection had grown to 10,000 volumes, mostly American fiction, periodicals, and newspapers. This expanding collection was donated to the government of the Philippines, which formally accepted it in 1901. This year is considered the real origin of the National Library and Philippine public library system. In 1909, the ACL was renamed the Philippine Library and divided into sections of law, science, circulating items, and Philippine Studies.

The Philippine Library was directed by James Alexander Robertson (1873 –1939) an American academic historian, archivist, translator and bibliographer. Robertson published much research on the history and historiography of the Philippines and other former territorial possessions of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. His multivolume work on the history of the Philippines, The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803, was one of his most noted publications. Robertson also established library science as a field of study at the University of the Philippines. Considered the father of Philippine library science, Robertson eliminated fees for borrowing books from public collections.

Modern architecture

The current six storey National Library building was designed by Hexagon Associated Architects, a Philippine firm. With a floor area of 198,000 square feet, the library has three reading rooms and three mezzanines. Each reading room can welcome up to 532 readers, for a total of almost 1600. There is a 400-seat auditorium named in honor of Epifanio de los Santos y Cristóbal (1871 – 1928) a noted Filipino historian and critic of art and literature, as well as former Director of the Philippine Library and Museum. There are eight stack rooms with capacity for one million volumes which may be expanded. The National Library of the Philippines currently owns over 1.6 items. These include over 210,000 books; and more than 880,000 manuscripts, more than 170,000 newspaper issues from Metro Manila and across the Philippines; around 66,000 theses and dissertations; 104,000 government publications; 3,800 maps and 53,000 photographs. There are also nearly 18,000 items in the Library for the Blind Division.

Conference in Thailand

The 65th International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Council and General Conference was held in August 1999 in Bangkok. On that occasion, an interesting presentation on Trends in Philippine Library History was given by Professor Vicente S. Hernández of the Sangandaan Cultural Center, Makati City, Philippines. The IFLA is the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users. It is the global voice of the library and information profession. Founded in 1927, it has more than 1,400 Members in over 140 countries. Its headquarters is in the Royal Library in The Hague, the national library of the Netherlands. According to its website:

Aims:

IFLA is an independent, international, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization. Our aims are to:

• Promote high standards of provision and delivery of library and information services
• Encourage widespread understanding of the value of good library & information services
• Represent the interests of our members throughout the world

Core Values

In pursuing these aims IFLA embraces the following core values:

• the endorsement of the principles of freedom of access to information, ideas and works of imagination and freedom of expression embodied in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• the belief that people, communities and organizations need universal and equitable access to information, ideas and works of imagination for their social, educational, cultural, democratic and economic well-being
• the conviction that delivery of high quality library and information services helps guarantee that access
• the commitment to enable all Members of the Federation to engage in, and benefit from, its activities without regard to citizenship, disability, ethnic origin, gender, geographical location, language, political philosophy, race or religion.

The research by Professor Hernández is described in the following abstract:

This paper divides Philippine library history into three periods, establishing a relationship between historical events and library trends. During the Spanish period, modern library trends were introduced through the establishment of the Sociedad Económica in 1780, but did not influence Philippine library culture until the later part of the 19th century. In the 20th century, the United States introduced innovations in sciences and practice, but the foundation of Philippine librarianship was largely due to the enthusiasm of a few American librarians and Filipino scholars. After the devastation of World War II, the newly established Philippine Republic helped strengthen academic and cultural institutions in the country. Today’s Philippine librarianship is nurtured in library schools and consolidated through association and cooperative effort.

Professor Hernández points out that there has been a lack of historical research about the development of libraries in the ASEAN region. The history of libraries is linked to aspects of national, regional, and international history.

Thailand and Philippines

Last February, The Nation reported that following her appearance in January’s Miss Universe pageant, Miss Universe Thailand 2016 Chalita Suansane attended the 24th Philippine Travel Agencies Association Travel Expo at the SMX Convention Center as tourism ambassador.

Last month, the Nation explained that because according to such international guidelines as the English Proficiency Index, the general level of understanding of the English language is better in Philippines than in the Kingdom, a number of Filipinos have travelled to Thailand to teach English. The Philippine Embassy estimates that almost 18,000 Filipinos, some of them undocumented, are currently living in the Kingdom.

Also published last month were the results of the Global Competitiveness Index by the World Economic Forum. The report assesses the ability of countries to provide high levels of prosperity to their citizens. This in turn depends on how productively a country uses available resources. Therefore, the Global Competitiveness Index measures the set of institutions, policies, and factors that set the sustainable current and medium-term levels of economic prosperity.

Thailand and Philippines have both improved in competitiveness since last year’s findings. For now, Thailand, at number 38, still ranks above Philippines, at number 56, in competitiveness, but Philippines appears to be improving rapidly in this category.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)