From Ian Rosales Casocot:
The eminent scholar of mythology G.K. Chesterton once famously observed that “a room without books is like a body without a soul.” I believe in that wholeheartedly—and often I do find myself picking my friendships by the size of their libraries. Deep inside, I think books signal a depth of character, and imagination, that deem the room-owner worthy enough of an emotional investment to strike for long-lasting friendship. Truth is, we can always afford hundreds of close acquaintances. But close friendships are vital, and forever. Books become a measure of that vitality. Not always, but often. And for the most part, my life has been enriched by great friends who read. They challenge me, and I grow from that. In trying times, they are also the ones with the most imagination to carry you through the darkest days without becoming, uncomfortably, like Job’s comforters.
Showing posts with label library. Show all posts
Showing posts with label library. Show all posts
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
My fave library scenes in films/books
As a bookworm, I have always considered the school library as my sanctuary and haven. It is at the library that I learned about the birds and the bees (notwithstanding that the references were scanty and withheld from general circulation) - starting with looking up the definitions of sexual terms in the gargantuan Webster's Dictionary up to finding (to my raging hormones' delight) sexy passages in R-rated books by Harold Robbins, et al.
Not surprisingly while reading Atonement by Ian McEwan, the scene that got my pulse racing was the pivotal library encounter between the two lovers which was misinterpreted by the young Briony. I still have to see the movie version of this novel to find out how this scene was interpreted by the director. At the UP Main Library, one of my pet peeves was finding lovers making a lovenest in between library shelves where I needed to find a book for my research. I'm sure that if these lovers ever saw the film, they might have ended up necking and petting inside the cinema! The good ole days indeed! :D
While other movie viewers noticed clothes and shoes among other things, I salivated at the sight of the extensive (wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling) library in Lex Luthor's yacht in Superman Returns. Never mind if someone told me it was just a SFX. How Luthor can have that library and still be a villain is beyond me! 
One of my favorite Ray Bradbury books, Something Wicked This Way Comes, has a library scene where Mr. Dark confronts Mr. Halloway. I just couldn't put this book down and I revisit it like an old friend. My teenaged imagination was fired up by this book.
Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, finds herself in bookworm heaven in the Beast's library. Never mind if this library is just a product of animation!
I l-o-v-e both Yentl the Yeshiva Boy, a short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer and Yentl, the movie starred in and directed by Barbra Streisand! Orphaned, Yentl had to disguise herself as a boy to enter a school where/when women were not allowed to study the Torah. Yentl spends her time with tomes until love comes her way.
The library scene in The Mummy with Rachel Weisz as the librarian amidst the mayhem and the harassment of her boss made me remember all the school librarians I have met and befriended who served as my guides in the labyrinth of books under their care.
While others were turned off by a suspense thriller set in a medieval library in a monastery, The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco presented itself as a challenging read to me because of the pidgin English, Latin and French sentences in it. I had my Latin and French dictionaries on hand while reading it. In the end, it was a satisfying read. So satisfying that, when I finally saved up enough to buy a DVD player, the film version was one of the first three videos I bought and watched.
Not surprisingly while reading Atonement by Ian McEwan, the scene that got my pulse racing was the pivotal library encounter between the two lovers which was misinterpreted by the young Briony. I still have to see the movie version of this novel to find out how this scene was interpreted by the director. At the UP Main Library, one of my pet peeves was finding lovers making a lovenest in between library shelves where I needed to find a book for my research. I'm sure that if these lovers ever saw the film, they might have ended up necking and petting inside the cinema! The good ole days indeed! :D
While other movie viewers noticed clothes and shoes among other things, I salivated at the sight of the extensive (wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling) library in Lex Luthor's yacht in Superman Returns. Never mind if someone told me it was just a SFX. How Luthor can have that library and still be a villain is beyond me! 
One of my favorite Ray Bradbury books, Something Wicked This Way Comes, has a library scene where Mr. Dark confronts Mr. Halloway. I just couldn't put this book down and I revisit it like an old friend. My teenaged imagination was fired up by this book.
Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, finds herself in bookworm heaven in the Beast's library. Never mind if this library is just a product of animation!
I l-o-v-e both Yentl the Yeshiva Boy, a short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer and Yentl, the movie starred in and directed by Barbra Streisand! Orphaned, Yentl had to disguise herself as a boy to enter a school where/when women were not allowed to study the Torah. Yentl spends her time with tomes until love comes her way.
The library scene in The Mummy with Rachel Weisz as the librarian amidst the mayhem and the harassment of her boss made me remember all the school librarians I have met and befriended who served as my guides in the labyrinth of books under their care.
While others were turned off by a suspense thriller set in a medieval library in a monastery, The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco presented itself as a challenging read to me because of the pidgin English, Latin and French sentences in it. I had my Latin and French dictionaries on hand while reading it. In the end, it was a satisfying read. So satisfying that, when I finally saved up enough to buy a DVD player, the film version was one of the first three videos I bought and watched.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Non-readers benefit from library hub
Non-readers benefit from library hub
MANILA, Philippines -- With the quality of education in the country in dismal state, it is always a welcome sight to see local school authorities relying on their resourcefulness to improve the way their students learn.
In Cagayan de Oro City, a library hub that houses almost 50,000 books was built to reduce the non-readers among public elementary school pupils all over Misamis Oriental.
But officials said putting up the library hub was not easy even though half of the funds were already provided by the Department of Education and private donors provided the other half.
Parents and teachers of Cugman Elementary School have adopted the library hub and aimed to develop it as a wide source of primary books opened to all public school teachers and pupils in the province.
“The library hub is not your regular library. It is actually a warehouse of all reading materials that pupils can bring to their classrooms and even take home,” said librarian Corazon Pates.
“It is only a medium-sized library hub. There are bigger library hubs that can house more than 100,000 books. We expect more books to be donated so maybe after three years we can expand this building,” she added.
A one-story building with three classrooms had been renovated to give space to the dozens of shelves where the books are stacked in rows. Although not air-conditioned, the library hub looks like a commercial children’s bookstore.
Aside from textbooks, various reference materials are also available in the hub, including imported books for beginning readers, science and mathematics books.
There’s also a variety of fairy tale books with colorful pictures that lure young readers to the hub.
Grade 6 pupil Vincent Borres said he only discovered it was fun to read when he was in Grade 5.
“Since last year when the library hub was built, I always borrow books that I take home and read with my parents,” he said.
Among Vincent’s favorite books are ‘Ibong Adarna’ and ‘The Monkey and the Turtle,’ which he retells to his playmates.
“I love to read. We are thankful that we now have the library hub, we no longer need to buy the books we want to read,” Vincent said.
Kristin Ramos, 11, said her parents are happy whenever they see her reading.
“I learn a lot from reading, and the stories teach us good moral lessons,” she said.
Kristin then showed one of her favorite books, which has big, colorful pictures with an English-Tagalog translation. “I learned to speak good English because of these books,” she proudly said.
Responsibility
Teachers ask their pupils to submit a summary of the stories they read, library aide Maribel Octap explained.
“This way, the pupils learn to read and write in English. The translations in the book from English to Tagalog help them a lot to easily understand the story,” said Octap.
Children also learn responsibility in taking care of the books, she added.
“They use the books properly and they make sure everything they borrow is returned on time,” she said.
Pates said regular reading sessions for pupils in Cugman Elementary School has been the main factor of the school being able to post a 100-percent rise in reading rate.
“We are now No. 11 in the regional achievement test. Before the library hub was opened, we were way at the bottom,” she said.
School children in hinterland schools are encouraged to borrow the books from the hub.
Priority is given to schools where a higher number of non-readers are found, Pates said.
“Children in the rural barangays don’t get to read these kinds of quality books, unlike those in the city,” she said. Books can be borrowed for 20 days by the school principal or librarian. Pates said there’s no limit in the number of books that can be borrowed as long as the principal or the librarian gives assurance that these will be returned in good condition.
“We usually have a hard time transporting the books to the rural areas. It is really a sacrifice for the teachers who have to carry the books all the way to the schools, and they even have to shoulder the fare,” Pates said.
Villages with service vehicles sometimes offer to transport the books to the schools.
“We urge the teachers to get the support of local village officials so that books can be transported regularly and by the bulk,” Pates said.
Help from members of the community is always enjoined by school authorities to achieve their goal of raising literacy among the children according to Pates.
“Reading is the first step to functional literacy. Everyone, not only the teachers, but most importantly, the parents and the local officials, must do their share,” she said.
Dr. Wilfreda Famador, assistant chief of the elementary education department of DepEd in Northern Mindanao, said the library hub was actually conceived as an outreach project by the DepEd to minimize the number of non-readers among grade schoolers.
Of the hundreds of library hubs established around the country since June 2006, only 30—including the one in Cagayan de Oro City—have remained operational.
The thrust of the library hub project is to create a reading culture among children, Famador said.
“We encourage the principals to allow even the pre-school to use the books to expose them early to good reading behavior,” she said.
Famador, however, admitted that the DepEd does not have a budget to sustain these projects as all the department’s funds go to basic needs.
“We empower our principals to come up with ways to get the funding. We also seek the help of the private sector. Usually, the principals come up with a strategy, like soliciting books or utilizing the PTCA (Parents Teachers Community Association),” she said.
The strategy that Cugman Elementary School principal Dr. Arlan Paul Reyes has come up with yielded surprising results and became a model for other provinces.
Donations from parents and politicians alike poured in to finish the library hub.
Additional funds for plastic covers for the books were also solicited.
In June 2007, an extension project of the library hub was launched.
“We now conduct informal computer literacy training every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Some politicians donated computers, which we now utilize for the training. We have a teacher who volunteered to teach computers with only a measly allowance,” Pates said.
The computer literacy training is open to the community. “Our students are not just the elementary pupils, but their parents as well. We also have out-of-school youth who were all very thankful for the computer training,” she said.
Copyright 2008 Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved.
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