Model reading center drops ‘bodega’ look

CEBU CITY—Marciana Tudtud Inoc knows exactly how a library looks like. But when the former librarian first stepped into the reading center of Barangay Talamban in Cebu City, she saw a gloomy bodega (warehouse) stacked with secondhand, almost unusable, books.

“I was moved when I saw the situation. So I volunteered to help put life into it even if I was not anymore connected to any school,” said Inoc, 45.

In this age of information technology and social media, she said it was hard to look for a librarian. Volunteering in the reading center is her way of sharing her abilities and skills.

Book donation drive

Inoc, together with the reading center’s librarian-designate Nice Bontuyan Codesar and the barangay council, launched a campaign to solicit book donations from individuals and institutions.

They asked priests and lay ministers in Catholic churches in Talamban to announce their drive. They also sought assistance from the Cebu City Public Library.

The efforts paid off. Barangay residents and other donors, such as the University of San Carlos, responded.

In July last year, the reading center was established; two months later, its mini-libary became fully operational. Now, it serves as a model among the 64 barangay readings centers in the city, according to Rosario Chua, chief librarian of the city’s public library.

Under Republic Act No. 7743, reading centers must be established from the congressional to the barangay levels throughout the country. Each has a librarian-designate.

Read-along session

Of the 80 barangays in Cebu City, 64 have reading centers, Chua said. The librarian-designates were trained on basic management of mini-libraries in November last year.

On Jan. 29, the Inquirer held a read-along session at the Talamban reading center. The event was co-organized by the Cebu City Public Library.

Miss Cebu 2012 first runner-up Rachel Chloe Palang and second runner-up Ella Beverly Sarmago served as storytellers to 35 children. The two are mass communication graduates of the University of the Philippines Cebu College.

Emphasizing the importance of looking at a person’s inner beauty than outside appearance, Palang read “Bruhaha! Bruhihi!,” a story about a little girl who thought that her old neighbor is a witch. The book was written by Ompong Remigio.

“Teaching children the importance of not judging people because of their physical appearance is very relevant during this time when people have stereotypes,” Palang said.

Children were provided copies of the book so they could join the reading.

Lilay’s world

Sarmago took the children to the world of Lilay, a small girl who helped in bringing back water to her barangay. The water left because the people wasted it. “Lilay” was written by Becky Bravo and illustrated by Rommel Joson.

Apart from teaching the children the value of water, Sarmago told the children that they could do something to help society even if they were young.

Librarian-designate Codesar welcomed the read-along sessions to further encourage public support for libraries.

Now that they have established a model reading center, they intend to help other barangays build better reading centers and promote the culture of reading.