24/7 Cebu City Public Library: The First Year – Change for the better

Change for the better

(Part 2 of 3 parts)

Sorting out discarded books in the library’s bodega in 2003, Frian Lumen, never thought that he will
serve the Cebu City Public Library (CCPL) for 16 years.

Lumen, 41 of Barangay Lahug in Cebu City, witnessed how students from various high schools and colleges in Cebu and its neighboring cities and towns scour every book and research material in the library to search for information.

Lumen remembers the library as a gloomy place with only a single coat of yellow paint on its walls and
cement-finished floor with a sleepy atmosphere.

Since its renovation in 2009, after plans of shutting the library down did not push through, the library
has since sported a new look.

White walls, tiled floor, new furniture items of tables and chairs were added, which gave the library a
new look and, in effect, a new lease on life.

While groups such as the Friends of the Cebu City Public Library and Basadours called for the library to open on Saturdays and Sundays to accommodate more people, who only have time to do research over the weekends, the library’s operation hours remained the same: Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

All of that change with the presence of social media.

Mich Roldan, engineering student who is reponsible for convincing Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to open the Cebu City Public Library 24/7. |Photo captured from a video interview by the Cebu City Public Information Office and posted on its Facebook page

Engineering student Mich Roldan asked Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña of the possibility of opening
the CCPL for 24 hours to serve the needs of the students for a safe and free place to study.

Osmeña announced that the library will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to serve the needs
of the students.

The Cebu City Government hired additional library personnel and security guards to augment the
operational demands which came with a 24/7 operation.

More air-conditioning units were added while old ones were fixed. A close circuit television (CCTV)
system was installed, and wifi routers were added.

In this photo taken on March 7, 2018, the Cebu City Public Library along Osmeña Boulevard is  being outfitted for 24-hour use. Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced that air conditioners will be upgraded, additional staff and guards will be hired, and CCTV and Wi-Fi routers will be installed. |CDN File Photo/Lito M. Tecson

The decision to transform the library as 24/7 facility was a challenge that chief librarian Rosario “Ruth” Chua welcomed with excitement.

“It was a different challenge that also meant improving the way library staff address our clients. It was a learning process,” says Chua, who has been with the library for 38 years.

The library now has 21 full-time staff, four of whom, including Chua and Lumen, have worked for CCPL for more than a decade.

Cebu City Public Library staff attend to the wall where students and other library patrons pin notes mostly expressing appreciation for providing them a place to study and do research. |CDND Photo/Tonee Despojo

Service

Unlike in the previous years that the library was a main space for research, Lumen says the
demographics of CCPL clients shifted to younger users who study for school tests and board
examinations.

This is a significant segment of the population, whose needs were addressed with the 24/7 operation of
the library.

To manage operations, Lumen said the library has three shifts with five to six individuals per shift.

“We are learning about customer service in this job since the 24/7 operations. I tell the new ones to
extend any help they can to assist the library users and then smile whenever we encounter tough
situations because it will only get worse if you get angry,” says Lumen.

In this photo taken at 11 p.m. of Oct. 3, 2018 and posted on Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s Facebook page, the mayor expresses amazement about the large number of students benefitting from opening the library 24/7, which began barely seven months earlier, or on March 10, 2018.

Lumen, an administrative staff, is in-charge of reception matters and in making sure that technical issues are solved during library events.

Brenda Dalipe-Cobol, who was hired as an administrative officer when the library started its 24/7
operation, says working at CCPL was a blessing for her after spending three years as a teacher in
Bahrain.

Dalipe-Cobol is a member of the volunteer storytellers corps of the non-profit organization, Basadours
Inc., a staunch advocate of literacy development and a partner of the library since 2012.

As a bookworm, Dalipe-Cobol says working in the library was a dream come true.

“It was a different and unique experience that was unlike any other job. People go to the library not only to study and research. There are parents with children who visit our children’s section so they can
expose their children to books,” she says.

Danae Claire “Dannie” Deboma volunteers with the non-government organization, Basadours Inc., for Summer Saturday Storytime at the Cebu City Public Library. Photo taken on May 27, 2018. |Basadours Photo

Dalipe-Cobol left her library job in December 2018 to prepare for her new role as a first-time mother.

She gave birth to her daughter, Maria Margaret, on March 6, three days before the first anniversary of
the 24/7 operation of the library.

During her stint at the library, she says Chua reminded them to never forget the needs of the other
sectors: parents, mothers, children, LGBTQIA, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities.

While the library was known as a study place for students, Dalipe says they made sure that parents,
children, and senior citizens were also served.

The Cebu City Public Library, as it opens 24/7, is no longer just a place to study or do research but also has a children’s corner for reading, browsing and for storytelling sessions conducted by CCPL’s partner, Basadours. |CDND Photo/Tonee Despojo

“As the library’s 24/7 operations commenced around the time when school was ending, we partnered different organizations to initiative several events at the library,” she recalls.

Storytelling sessions, art classes, book launches, and language classes have been held in the library.
(To be concluded)