Valenzuela opens library for public school students

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education in cooperation with the Valenzuela City government opened last week a library hub that would serve as repository of supplementary reading materials for public elementary and high school students.

City Schools Division Superintendent Flordeliza Mayari said that the realization of Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian’s plan of transforming Valenzuela into a “Reading City” is now within reach as she urged students to develop the habit of reading “for it is the foundation of learning.”

Mayari said that the public library has a new arrangement wherein reading materials of 50 pieces per title are stored in plastic bins and can be checked out by teachers of public schools to their respective classes, to be returned after 120 days. Students are also allowed to bring the materials home.

The library would house reference and reading books, and literary works from both local and foreign authors, she said.

Mayari said this deviation from the traditional library set-up was designed to serve “a greater number of students.”

“DepEd studies show that improved reading proficiency enhances academic performance because students can comprehend better what they are reading,” Beverly Berame, project team coordinator, said.

The library hub occupies two huge rooms of the newly renovated Valenzuela City Astrodome. It will be managed by a trained librarian and will have a broadband-connected computer unit for accessing sites, such as the National Library’s e-lib, Berame said.

The DepEd Central Office already approved the purchase of 20,000 books worth P8 million scheduled for delivery this summer.