Philippines 

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Directory Information	Catalogs, Bibliographies, and Indexes
History	Reference and Reader Services
Organization	Automation
Collections	Statistics

   

Formal Name:    The National Library of the Philippines

Name of Librarian: Adoracion M. Bolos, Acting Director
Address:    Ermita, T.M. Kalaw Street, 1000, Manila
Phone:    (02) 5253196    Fax: 5242329
E-mail:   amb@max.ph.net

 On March 9, 1900, the American Circulating Library was established in Manila as a fitting memorial to the American servicemen who died on Philippine soil.  The Library was organized by Mrs. Charles R. Greenleaf and its first librarian was Nellie Young Egbert.  The American Military Governor in the Philippines, by authority vested in him by the United States Philippine Commission through Public Act No. 96 passed on March 5, 1901, accepted the Circulating Library as a donation of the American Circulating Library Association to the government.

 Public Law Act No. 1935, provided for the "consolidation of all libraries belonging to any branch of the Philippine government for the creation of the Philippine Library", and for the maintenance of the same, and other purposes.  To carry out the provisions of this law, a Library Board was constituted consisting of the Secretary of the Public Instruction, the Secretary of Interior, the Secretary of Finance and justice, and the other members to be appointed annually by the Governor General.

 In 1916, the Philippine Library, Division of Archives, Patents, Copyrights and Trade-Marks of the Executive Bureau and the Law Library of the Philippine Assembly were merged into one entity as the Philippine Library and Museum.  Twelve years later, the Philippine Legislature separated the museum from the library.  Public Law No. 3477 (1928) established the National Museum under the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources and changed the name of the Philippine Library and Museum to The National Library.

 The National Library of the Philippines as the repository of the printed and/or recorded cultural, historical, intellectual and literary heritage of the country and of other information sources and resources, shall provide access to these resources and shall ensure the preservation and conservation of these materials for the future generations of Filipinos.

 As the national repository of the country's printed and/or recorded cultural heritage and other intellectual, literary and information resources, The National Library has the following objectives:

1. To acquire and preserve all Filipiniana materials;
2 To provide national bibliographical services;
3. To develop, in cooperation with the local government units, a system of ;public libraries and information centers throughout the country; and,
4. To provide reference services and resources to the public.

 A service-oriented institution, The National Library of the Philippines performs dual functions: that of a national library and that of a public library.  As a National Library it has continuously directed its efforts towards the development and preservation of its collection, facilities, and resources to meet the information needs of its clientele.  As a public library, it acts as the central node of public library system in the country.

 The National Library is made up of the following divisions:  Filipiniana and Asia, Government Publications, Reference, Serials, Public Libraries, Acquisition, Catalog, Bibliographic Services, Publication & Special Services, and Administrative.  The National Library performs its duties and functions through these ten divisions with a staff complement of 156 of which 79 belong to the library group and 77 to the support services.

 A comprehensive collection or complete bibliographical control is the ultimate goal of a library collection development effort.  an extensive collection of all printed Filipiniana historical and cultural publications was undertaken.  Building up and maintaining a major research collection of the world's literature is also a priority.

 The Acquisition Division is viewed as the heart of the library and the key to effective library service, takes charge of acquiring library materials for the national library services and for its public libraries.  Acquisition activities are not only limited to purchasing library materials but these are augmented by legal deposit, gifts, donations and exchange of publications program.

 The Filipiniana and Asia Division:
• Serves as the official repository of the country's intellectual and cultural heritage;
• Keeps and preserves copies of all Filipiniana materials;
• Prepares guides to the collection;
• Organizes the presidential papers;
• Maintains reading room service.
Government Publications Division:
• Provides reference and research services to the public;
• Indexes selected serial titles of government publications, both local and foreign;
• Prepares guides and other finding aids to Philippine laws and statutes.

 The National Library through the Bibliographic Services Division prepares the Philippine National Bibliography and maintains the National Union Catalog.  The Bibliographic Services Division is also in charge of The National Library's participation in UNESCO's programmes on Universal Bibliographic Control (UBC) and Universal Availability of Publications (UAP) which allow researchers to avail of national publications or national imprints of other countries through interlibrary loan requests.

 The Acquisition Division prepares a monthly Current Awareness List while the Catalog Division provides centralized cataloging service for holdings in the National Library and its public libraries and keeps and maintains a union catalog of all holdings of the Library and its public libraries.

 The Publication & Special Services Division publishes the annual report and newsletters; the Reference Department produces annotated bibliographies; and the Government Publications Division prepares guides and other finding aids to Philippine laws and statutes.

 Reference and information services is the link between the library users' information needs and the information sources of the library.  The National Library fulfills this role through the four divisions which offer to their library clientele access to their resources.  These are the Filipiniana and Asia, Government Publications, Serials and Reference Divisions.  Aside from these divisions, a system of public libraries in which the Public Libraries Division is in charge, caters to the informational and recreational needs of people from all walks of life.

 A computerized acquisition system has been designed.  A survey of existing computerized library systems like the Don Bosco College Library, ADB Library, Ateneo De Manila University Library, etc. had been conducted by some technical staff. Computerized acquisition system will be implemented soon using a kind of software whether customized or in-house developed that would best suit the needs of The National Library.

1993

Items acquired 74,376
Readers/users 189,798
Book budget P4,881,250.