Inside Cebu’s public library

I share with everybody the excitement and anticipation of having a public library that is open for 24 hours, seven days a week.

It is no secret that I feel protective of the Cebu City Public Library and Information Center (CCPL) ever since December 2008 when the city government made the announcement that the library will be closed down. Then Cebu City Councilor Joy Augustus Young, who was also Education Committee chairperson then, later said that the library doors will be closed after the 2009 Sinulog festivities.

I was appalled by the announcement. How can a city as dynamic and rich as Cebu let go of its public library? Sure it housed a collection of outdated books but is there something that could be done to save the library?

I was later introduced to the “Friends of the Cebu City Public Library,” which was then led by Mr. Manny Ramirez, a staunch advocate in keeping the library open. I later applied to be a member of this loose organization and volunteered to work for the library in several activities.

When news of the closure broke out, I remember rushing to the library to interview Ma’am Rosario “Ruth” Chua about the state of the institution which has embraced her for 27 years then. Ten years after, now in 2018, Ma’am Ruth has served as a library employee for 37 years.

The planned library closure obviously did not push through. The three local newspapers and Friends of CCPL fought to keep it alive. It was however reduced to one room (the current audio-visual room) for about six months in 2011 as the Rizal Memorial Library and Museum, the building where the CCPL is located, underwent renovation. Later, the reopening was marked with a renewed hope to have a library that is functional and user friendly.

In 2010, before the CCPL reopened its doors, I reconnected with Ma’am Ruth to collaborate with her on running the first Inquirer Read-along session at the library. We had Madame Margot Osmeña and Mr. Jay Aldeguer and daughter Nana as storytellers. Members of Zonta Club of Cebu II, a group of women whose hearts are so generous that they donated the Children’s Corner of the library, joined us that day. There were children from two barangays in Cebu City who served as our participants.

My frequent visits at the library drew me closer to Ma’am Ruth that by the end of 2011, she asked me if I was willing to be part of a group that will work on doing something for the library. There was no specific task that needed to be accomplished. I was just asked to be present in a meeting that talked about love for reading. I raised the importance of reading to children, the wonders of storytelling in molding young minds and making them book lovers so they will love the library as a venue of fun learning.

It was on this note that the Basadours was formed. We had our first meeting on January 4, 2012. By February 25, 2012, we launched the organization as a group of volunteer storytellers and reading advocates with then Mayor Mike Rama as the main storyteller.

The Basadours has been on a roll ever since. The library is our headquarters.

It was in the CCPL that we sealed the Basadours’ Charter, where we held numerous storytelling trainings, member orientations, storytelling sessions, parental awareness on the importance of reading and child protection policy lectures/trainings. I had an impromptu baby shower at the library when I was pregnant with the twins.

Because the Friends of the Cebu City Public Library became inactive, I felt that the Basadours became the library’s “friends.”

I will not be modest in writing this, the Basadours helped bring life to the ailing library culture. We fought to transform the library as place for learning and discussion and not just a repository of artifacts.

More than once, I lamented about the fact that the library was only open from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. I suggested if volunteers can help run the library on their free days. We can work on a schedule, I said. That did not materialize. I was told the decision has to come from the “higher up.”

So when CIT-U student Mitch Roldan requested Mayor Tomas Osmeña to open the library 24/7 to serve as study area for students, I waited for Mr. Osmeña to respond positively. I was out of the country when this happened. I religiously monitored the update as I crossed the Cambodia-Vietnam border; thank goodness to buses with wireless internet connection.

He announced on March 6 that the library will open until midnight by March 9. The online world went wild with applause and cheers. On Thursday, March 8, Osmeña made another announcement: The library will be open 24/7 starting March 9.

To be continued…