Library Standards

Background of PAARL Standards for Academic Libraries

In an effort to upgrade libraries in private higher education in the Philippines, the Private Higher Education Sectoral Area of the Bureau of Higher Education made a study of the library resources in the country as of SY 1975-76. A survey was conducted using an eight-page questionnaire addressed to head librarians. The Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE) distributed and retrieved the questionnaires through the assistance of the Bureau of Higher Education. One result of this study was a strong recommendation to implement a Tentative Library Standards for Private Higher Education, which was drafted by the study team and presented to a larger professional group at a national convention of the Philippine Library Association  (PLA) on June 3, 1977.

In 1988, the Philippines Association of Academic and Research Libraries (PAARL) felt that the 1977 Standards needed  upgrading to satisfy the current needs of tertiary education, which had undergone several changes. In pursuit of this objective, PAARL created a Standards Committee tasked to formulate the Library Standards for Academic Libraries in the Philippines. Miss Marina Dayrit, PAARL’s founding president, was appointed chairman.  Members of this Committee included:

Juana L. Abello,  UST                             Perla T. Garcia, DLSU

Sarah C. de Jesus, UE                            Rogelio Mallillin, ADMU

Fr. Paul de Vera, OSB, SBC                    Esperanza A. Sta. Cruz, PWU

                 with Corazon C. Nera, as  Recording Secretary

The proposed standards were presented to the general membership in a Seminar-Workshop held at the University of the Philippines-Visayas in Iloilo in October 1988, and again in the seminar-workshop on Map Utilization in the same year. The participants in the Iloilo public hearing were librarians from the Visayas and Mindanao, while those who attended the Manila seminar were librarians mostly coming from Luzon. The final document was submitted to the Department of Education, Culture and Sports and became known as the DECS Library Standards for Tertiary Education. It was issued as Inclosure no. 3 to DECS Bulletin  no. 1 s, 1988.

In answer to the growing clamor for  a revision of the Library Standards, PAARL conducted a seminar-workshop on Accreditation and Library Standards: Library Achieving Academic Excellence in 1995. This was followed by another seminar on Library Standards: Review & Update held in Davao City in 1998.

A Task Force on Library Standards was formed in 1999 to revise the standards based on the proposals agreed on during the Davao Conference.  Headed by Ms. Loreto M. Seriña of Jose Rizal College, the other Members of the Task Force included:

Marlo C. Chavez, SBC                         Teresita G. Hernandez, CEU              

Erlinda F. Flores, UST                         Veneranda O. Sajorda, UPH-R          

            Lolita P. Gonzalez, SSC                       Fe Angela M. Verzosa, DLSU

                                                                                                                                                                                               The draft was presented in the December 1999 issue of PAARL Newsletter and distributed at the General Assembly, held at De La Salle University, last January 28, 2000.  At the Planning Workshop for the new Board for 2000, the incoming President, Ms. Fe Angela M. Verzosa,  appointed Ms. Lolita Gonzales to chair the Task Force in place of Mrs. Seriña, who was subsequently appointed to the Board for Librarians. Verzosa also asked the Board to approve her plan to conduct a series of public hearings before the Standards are submitted for final approval, and to incorporate these hearings as part of the Conference Committee’s scheduled forums.  Three public hearings on the revised standards were scheduled as forums for the year 2000 in Manila, and one as a workshop to be held in Cebu City.

The first public hearing was held on March 17, 2000 at the University of Sto. Tomas, with Ms. Salvacion M. Arlante (UP), Ms. Belen Vibar (UAP), and Prof. Candida Agcaoili (UST) as panel reactors.  Also acting as moderators were Ms. Sajorda (UPH-R) and Ms. Flores (UST).

 The second public hearing was held on June 9 at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, with Dean Ursula Picache (retired UP Dean and PAASCU accreditor), Dean Josephine Sison (UP ILS), and Ms. Perla T. Garcia (DLSU) as panel reactors.  Ms. Lolita Gonzales and Ms. Verzosa served as panel moderators.

 The third public hearing was held last September 13 on the occasion of the 11^th Philippine Book Fair held every year at SM Mega Mall, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.  Serving as panel reactors were Ms. Corazon M. Nera (CEU, UE), Ms. Teresita C. Moran (Ateneo Professional Schools), and Ms. Celedonia T. Cayaban  (DLSU-College of St. Benilde).

 The last public hearing was held in Cebu City during the Seminar on Back to Basics: New Strategies for Millennium Libraries” held at Holiday Plaza Hotel, October 25-27, presided by Ms. Lolita P. Gonzales,  with Ms. Corazon M. Nera as resource person.

Subpages (5):

CHED Draft Requirements for Academic Libraries Common to All Programs

Draft Proposal for 2010 PAARL Standards (First Draft)

Glossary of Terms

Summary Report