LIBRARIES being operated by the Manila City government will get a fair share of attention and funding to promote the importance of reading and continous learning amongyoungsters and provide the elderly a place to while their time away.
Thus vowed Mayor Isko Moreno as he and Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna led the inauguration of the newly-rehabilitated Manila City Library on Taft Avenue, where they were joined by Jerry Vicente-Catabijan, president of the St. Mary’s Publishing Corporation and head of the Manila City Library Mylene Villanueva.
In his speech, Moreno thanked the staff of the city library for keeping it clean and conducive for learning and Vicente-Catabijan for donating about P1 million worth of books and reading materials.
Villanueva lauded the tandem of Moreno and Lacuna for providing the city library with all its needs in keeping with the times so that aside from physical reading materials, the library is now equipped with computers, laptops and wifi connection to aid the students who visit the library.
According to Villanueva, the support being given by Moreno and Lacuna to the library goes a long way for them to fulfill their functions well.
Lacuna said that libraries should not be treated as mere storage of books but instead, a venue where one can change his quality of life through continued learning and information research.
For his part, Moreno said that while most people consider Google as their new library, there is a need to continue reviving libraries and to encourage the youth to visit them, adding that in the case of the elderly, reading will help sharpen their memory.
The mayor stressed the importance of libraries and recounted that as a public school student, he was always at the library browsing on physical copies of the Reader’s Digest and Current Events, as he stressed that the four corners of the libraries is where one can derive information and knowledge that will guide them through life.
“Hanggang ngayon, nagbabasa ako whether virtual or physical. I continue to acquire knowledge, learn from it and when there are things that are applicable to governance, I apply. Ang pag-aaral is a lifelong journey kaya di tayo dapat huminto,” he said.
Moreno commended leaders and staff of the Manila City Library for adapting to modern times and going beyond what is expected of them by making technology available to everybody.
“Akoý nagpapasalamat sa city library at mga kawani sa pagsisigasig na maging bahagi at maramdamang bahagi ng pamahalaang-lungsod sa pagtugon sa pangangailangan ng mga kabataan sa access to reading,” Moreno added.
The mayor also vowed to give the city libraries -–located on Taft, Canonigo and Sta. Cruz — due attention as much as such is being given to the health, housing and education sector.
Moreno recounted during his stint at councilor and vice mayor, the city library always landed on the last portion of the list of priorities when it comes to funding.
