President's Report

Organizing Forums

The board’s initial activity was a public forum on the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Philippine Librarianship Act of 2003 (Republic Act 9246). R.A. 9246 was enacted on April 27, 2004. Subsequently, public forums were organized in coordination with the Professional Regulation Commission Board for Librarians (BFL) by different organizations to help the present BFL disseminate information regarding the new law. The UPLSAA was one of the library organizations that conducted a forum held at the U.P. College of Engineering Theater on June 16, 2004.

Ms. Perla T. Garcia and Ms. Elizabeth R. Peralejo, BFL chairperson and board member, respectively, participated in the aforementioned forum.

The annual book fair celebration that continues to attract crowds of bookworms and avid readers was the venue of the second forum organized by the UPLSAA. The forum, “Media Technology: Effective Utilization in Teaching,” was held during the Manila International Book Fair at the World Trade Center in Pasay City on August 12, 2004. Guest speaker was Ms. Peralejo, who graciously shared her expertise on the proper use and advantages of media equipment in teaching.

The two forums would not have been possible without the support from generous sponsors. Thus, the board expressed its gratitude towards them in the 60th issue of the UPLSAA newsletter.

Trainings

The UPSLAA successfully organized two important training seminars. The first was a two-day seminar entitled “Challenging Librarians: the New Roles of Professional and Support Staff in the Digital Environment,” held at the Fernando Hall, Ateneo de Naga University, on October 18-19, 2004.

The seminar was in partnership with the Bikol Consortium of Librarians of Academic and Research Librarians (BiCLARL). It served as an outreach program for librarians in the provinces, specifically those coming from the Bikol region. Seminar kits, courtesy of generous benefactors, were distributed to the participants. BiCLARL and faculty members from the Ateneo de Naga University were gracious hosts to the occasion.

The UPLSAA also tapped the U.P. College of Science Library for a seminar-workshop entitled “Creating your Web Page Using HTML” held on March 29-31, 2005. Mr. Ramon Sampang, one of the IT officers of the U.P. College of Science, generously shared his expertise on creating web pages.

Outreach Program

One of the most fulfilling undertakings of the UPLSAA was its contribution in the setting up of a library in Jaen West Elementary School in Dampulan, Jaen, Nueva Ecija. The Association donated children’s books, journals, and other essential library materials, such us book cards and date due slips, and brought them to the school last February 27, 2005. These donations served as the school library’s initial collection.

The board has agreed to further assist Jaen West Elementary in the setting-up of their library. In this regard, the Association continues to solicit children’s books and other reference materials to beef up the school’s collection. The Association would also appreciate the rendering of cataloging services for a systematic arrangement of library resources.

Membership

The board has come up with a partial list of lifetime members. With this list, the current board decided to issue free IDs to lifetime members. This ID shall be used in future activities of the Association. In time, the board shall come up with special privileges that would be available only to lifetime ID holders.

Newsletter

The Association’s newsletter is published quarterly. However, due to limited resources (printing and postage costs have increased considerably), the board decided to publish two issues this year instead of the usual four issues.

UPLSAA’s Nominee for UPAA’s Most Outstanding Professional

This year, Prof. Rosalie Faderon is UPLSAA’s nominee for the UPAA’s Most Outstanding professional in the field of Library and Information Science (LIS). The Association recognizes Prof. Faderon’s unwavering love and passion for the profession. She has proven her worth as a LIS professor over the years with her tireless advocacy to lift up the library and information science profession in the country.

Fundraising Activity

The Association came up with a fundraising project by way of a film showing at the U.P. Film Institute. National Treasure, which stars Nicolas Cage, was shown on February 16, 2005. Though projected profits were not met, the occasion served as a get-together venue for UPLSAA members.

With the country’s current fiscal crisis, generating funds was a daunting task for the Association. But it was fortunate that generous organizations and colleagues were always around to offer financial and moral support in the conduct of trainings, seminars, and the like. Funds may not have been enough to finance the Association’s other projects, but the accomplishments—partnerships with other organizations and the work on providing colleagues with the current information trends in the field of library science—have been a fulfilling experience to everyone. With these humble achievements, the objectives of the Association have been achieved thus far.

UPLSAA’s incumbent board deserves a tap on their backs for their concerted efforts and leadership in achieving these objectives. It is hoped that the succeeding boards will strive and continue to come up with relevant projects in the future.