Supnet said funds for construction of the two-story edifice were donated by the family of a son of Natividad who is now a successful medical practitioners in the United States.
The donor family is that of Dr. Rick de Leon, his wife. Dr. Clarita de Leon, and their children Clarence Rick, Nida Ann, and Richard Rick.
The library was built within the Natividad municipal hall complex.
Even before the construction of the building was completed, a number of academic and research and development (R&D) institutions have started sending reading materials to the library through Mayor Supnet.
The publications – mostly on agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and other sciences – come from the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) under the Office of the President, the Los Baños-based Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCARRD), DOST-Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development (PCAMRD), Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC AQD, Tigbauan, Iloilo), Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU, Batac, Ilocos Norte), Benguet State University (BSU, La Trinidad, Benguet), Central Cordillera Agriculture Program (CECAP), Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (DENR-ERDB), Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR), and University of the Philippines Los Baños.
Other academic and R&D institutions will also be tapped to provide vital publications to the library.
It is expected that the library will evolve into an information center where rural people, particularly farmers and inland fisheries practitioners, can access information that will improve their lives.
Also to considerably benefit from the library’s collections are tertiary and secondary schools in nearby towns and provinces.
The De Leon family, although already in the US for a long time, also continues to provide scholarships to poor but deserving students at the Natividad Oriental Academy (NOA), a private high school.
Many students in the town have completed their secondary education at the NOA through the generous support for Dr. Rick de Leon, who is an alumnus of the school.