THE PROPOSAL to extend the hours of the Davao City Library and Information Center (DCLIC) daily until weekends is still up for discussion at the Local Library Board.
During the iSpeak forum on Sept. 7, DCLIC officer-in-charge Salome Enoc said the extended hours entail cost, so the board has to deliberate on the proposal to obtain funding support.
“Once ma-approve na sya, pwede nata mo go ana kay kana man gud moabot nakag 10 p.m. naa na nay sya’y overtime fees, so budget napud ang atong hisgutan ana (We can only proceed once it is already approved because if we extend by 10 p.m., it will cost us overtime fees, so we have to talk about the budget first),” Enoc said.
One of the preparations for the extension is the creation of more positions, which has to be presented before the council first.
The item for four librarians was opened for applications last July to address the shortage as the library caters to more clients daily.
She also urged the public to continuously donate “gently used” books that children can use under the library’s “Share a Book Program.” The books that they were able to collect were distributed to 22 barangay reading centers in the city.
“Karon ang atong accomplishment sa mga bata diha sa Deped nagka-baba ang level, so most welcome ang mga reading books para sa mga bata ( Now our accomplishment of our children in DepEd is getting lower, so reading books for children are most welcome),” Enoc said.
Enoc said the DCLIC is driven to continue developing activities and programs as it was recognized just recently by the 2023 Gawad Pampublikong Aklatan (GPA) as the 2022 Public Library of the Year and Most Innovative Public Library Award for the Adaptive Library Programs and Activities Conducted.
Last August, DCLIC unveiled its third mobile library bus holding 2,000 book titles, arts and crafts supplies, board games, and educational movies intended to cater to daycare centers in the far-flung areas of the city.
Enoc said that they already talked with daycare centers to plot schedules. The first-ever activity will be a “Family Day” in the identified barangays where the mobile library will engage with the kids and their parents.
DCLIC already has two other mobile libraries, one exclusively used for public elementary school visits and the other for disaster emergency preparedness and awareness.
Photo courtesy of Davao City Library and Information Center
