TO cope with today’s digital era, the National Library of the Philippines (NLP) reported that it’s halfway through its digitalization thrust that, in turn, has encouraged more people to go back to the country’s official repository of information on cultural heritage and other literary resources.
According to NLP Director Cesar Gilbert Q. Adriano, they have digitized roughly around “50 percent” of their big collection of rare old books and other learning materials published up to the 1950’s.
He has no inkling, though, as to when they can fully digitize their vast collection of reading and learning tools.
“If given the budget and everything, we can give what’s our definite timeline for that. What is important to us right now is our rare collection is digitized. That’s our target because new books can be bought now,” he told the BusinessMirror at the recent launch in Quezon City of the inaugural Philippine celebration of the International Children’s Book Day (ICBD).
For him, digitization is a part of the regular function and a never-ending drive of the National Library.
“So just imagine it’s 135 years old already. We started that digitization in the 1990s, of course, initially with those very old books that are very sensitive, so they can have less exposure to the peoples’ touch. They are now available in digital formats in our website,” said the top official.
Some original copies of famous literary and historical pieces the institution has so far turned into digital versions are Jose Rizal’s manuscripts of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, as well as Severino Reyes’s Ang Mga Kwento Ni Lola Basyang, he cited.
With their continued digitalization, Adriano bared that the number of people visiting the National Library located at the Rizal Park in Manila has so far increased at an average of “300 to 400 a day” compared to previous years.
Based on their data, the director cited that most of the library-goers are in groups, like students. The challenge, however, is that majority of them go there to study with their own books or reference materials.
“But if they need additional resources, [they are] available in the National Library,” he said of their inventory of printed and digital books. “The beauty of going to the National Library is you will get verified information with the assistance of our librarians. Unlike in the internet, whatever you click, you don’t know if it’s true or fake. So that’s still the advantage of going to the library.”
Slated on April 2, the first ICBD celebration in the country will be hosted by the International Board on Books for Young People-Philippines, with the aim of raising awareness about the importance of children’s books and their impact on the development of young readers.
The line up of activities include interactive storytelling and read-aloud sessions, book sharing, distribution of books and posters, and awarding of the first-ever Severino Reyes Medal to the most outstanding picture book, storybook, and young adult book published in the country over the past decade.