Osmeña
Mayor Tomas Osmeña visited the Cebu City Public Library for the first time since it opened on a 24/7 schedule last week to speak with students and ask them how else the city government can improve library services.
Osmeña asked the around 50 students present when he made his visit before noontime on Thursday if they liked spending time at the library?
Library users, a mixture of high school and college students, gave him a nod in reply.
Osmeña also spoke to library staff and asked if they had potable water for the students.
The mayor later on told reporters that he was planning to introduce more improvements into the city library that is located at the ground floor of the Rizal Memorial Library and Museum.
However, improvements will depend on what else library users need.
“We have to get feedback from the people,” Osmeña told reporters after his visit.
“We’ll see what else is lacking. When you say I’m contented, that means there will be no more improvements. There’s always a better way,” the mayor added.
Osmeña said that he was also looking into the possibility of opening study centers to cater to the needs of students who live far from where the city library is located.
“We’re going to put up more places to study. I know some people live far from here. So, there will be more places to open (for a study center). (These will be) ready in a few days,” Osmeña said.
Osmeña extended library operations to 24-hours a day starting on March 9 in response to a request made by Cebu Institute of Technology–University (CIT–U) student Mitch Roldan who told him in a Facebook post that city students need a secure and affordable place to study other than visiting fastfood chains.
“Then there’s a clamor for more. We will do more. That’s what the people want, the students. I did not realize that there was such a big clamor for (a) study (area) and space. It’s good,” Osmeña said.
Among the areas that he is now considering for the opening of a study center is the already abandoned city condominium along Natalio Bacalso Avenue.