Cebu’s 24/7 public library hits 103K visitors in 2018, offers more services in 2019

CEBU CITY – After attracting a large number of visitors in 2018, the country’s only 24/7 public library, looks forward to another fruitful year with the promise of more services and becoming a state-of-the-art library.

With this, the Cebu City Public Library (CCPL) hopes to see another significant increase in the 103,528 recorded visits to the library in 2018, which is a big leap from 2017’s visitors of 26,820.

This year, the CCPL will also offer dedicated services to the hearing-impaired sector and members of the LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) community.

Aside from that, it will also implement a modern automated service.

“In 2019, we will have a state-of-the-art library with the implementation of a modern and automated service with RFID (radio-frequency identification system),” said CCPL Chief Librarian Rosario Chua.

“It will be a new library that would continue to nurture the dreams and hopes of our young people,” added Chua.

Chua said 2018 had been a challenging
year for the staff as they opened the library for 24-hour operations last March 9 upon the directive of Mayor Tomas Osmeña.

Osmeña’s directive also raised the number of library employees to 21 in 2018 from only six in 2017.

“Breaking the normal library operation was indeed a great challenge for all of us. However, getting positive remarks from people we served was even more inspiring and heartwarming,” said Chua.

On the initial 24-hour operations run, more than 650 people visited the library from 8 a.m. on March 9, 2018 to 8 a.m. of March 10, 2018.

In April 2018, PLDT and Smart Communications, Inc. signed a memorandum of agreement with the Cebu City government which formalized the provision of free Smart Wi-Fi access daily to the library users.

In August 2018, CCPL opened the digital braille section, which was made possible through a memorandum of understanding signed by the Cebu City Mayor’s Office, CCPL and KGS Corporation.

Chua earlier said electronic braille would give the visually-impaired persons the chance to enrich their intellectual capacity in the same level as the one with regular vision capabilities.

Chua, who served the library for 38 years, thanked the CCPL staff for their dedication and cooperation.

She also expressed gratitude to Mayor Osmeña and Councilor Margot Osmeña for “giving the library a unique opportunity to become a relevant place in the community.”

The CCPL has been supported by several partners and stakeholders over the years including the Zonta Club of Cebu II and the Basadours.

The 24/7 operations of the library stemmed from a Facebook comment of a student named Mitch Roldan.

In a March 5, 2018 comment, Roldan asked Mayor Osmeña if he would consider opening the library 24 hours so that students could have a secure and affordable place to study and not rely on fastfood places.

CCPL then became a 24/7 public library on March 9 with the hiring of additional staff and security personnel.

More CCTV cameras and Wi-Fi routers were installed for security purposes and ease of access of its users.