(4 Sep 2021) The Philippines recently received its first-ever award from the prestigious Venice Biennale since it first joined the exhibition in 1964. The recognition was for the exhibition “Structures of Mutual Support,” a stunning wooden structure inspired by the concept of bayanihan, the Filipino tradition of mutual support, following the biennial architecture fair’s theme of how…
(11 Aug 2021) In early August, a Philippine-published book made it to the top of Amazon’s list of “Hot New Releases.” With its intimidating title, “Boxer Codex: A Modern Spanish Transcription and English Translation of 16th-Century Exploration Accounts of East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific”—whew!—even its publisher was surprised the tome entered the number…
(8 Mar 2021) The National Library of the Philippines will be celebrating the 62nd Public Library Day on March 9, 2021, with the theme “Philippine Public Libraries: Providers of Virtual Information and Contributors to Community Sustainability.” Proclamation No. 563, s. 1959, recognized the importance of Public Libraries in the dissemination of knowledge and culture…
(24 Feb 2021) The National Library of the Philippines (NLP) in Manila just announced that its reading room is now open to welcome the public. This means that people who are looking for a quiet place to study or do leisure reading can visit the NLP for free. What’s more, visitors have the chance to…
(22 Jan 2021) From CNN Philippines: “With the country’s notoriously fickle internet connectivity and the continuing danger of physical contact, I find books a safe remedy to the growing loneliness of lockdown. Many local cultural workers and institutions, despite the punishing circumstances of this current crisis, are putting out work, which deserve a much…
(Dec 2020) Recently the National Library of the Philippines publishes “Impact Stories: Public Libraries’ Contribution to the Community Volume 2”. From the foreword of the book: “This book is especially relevant as we navigate the new normal environment and as we continue to establish the importance of public libraries in the country in these…
(2 Nov 2020) By virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 837 series of 1991 of the Philippines, November is the Library and Information Services (LIS) month. The celebration focuses on engendering public awareness to the invaluable service that libraries and information centers render. For Year 2020, the theme for the 30th commemoration is “LibREAL”, a portmanteau…
(26 Aug 2020) On their 18th anniversary, the UP Future Library and Information Professionals of the Philippines, also known as UP FLIPP of the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS), held their 12th LibSpeak last August 17, 2020 through a webinar as a need to adjust to the online setting caused by the disruptions…
(22 Jul 2020) An official of Professional Regulatory Board for Librarians pointed out Wednesday that there are more than 70 library schools nationwide after the head of the National Library of the Philippines wrongly claimed librarianship courses are not offered outside Metro Manila. The head of the National Library is not a licensed librarian. “[T]here…
(3 Jun 2020) While libraries stay close, Likhaan, the University of the Philippine’s Institute of Creative Writing (UP ICW), is starting an initiative to build a free online Filipiniana library. UP ICW is calling for contributions of published Filipiniana literature to build a free online library. Collected works will be curated in a free access…