A PROPOSAL to add another building to the Rizal Library is under consideration.
According to Rizal Library Director Lourdes David, the new building, which will be constructed on the location of Meron Pond, would have information commons and upgraded equipment, among other improvements.
Information commons
The proposed library will contain information commons, where students can hold discussions, use computers, and type papers. “[It is] not an ordinary library,” David said.
“There is a quiet area and there is also a discussion area,” she said in a mix of English and Filipino. However, the proposed library will be different from Matteo Ricci Study Hall, she said.
Unlike Matteo, the proposed library will have print and electronic resources as well as audiovisual services. “We’ll have individual carrels where you can listen and view,” she said.
The computers in CTC 101, CTC 112, and the Rizal Study Foyer will also be merged inside the proposed library, David said.
New layout
Unlike the current Rizal Library layout where students or visitors have to climb up to borrow books, David said that in the proposed library, the circulation area will be in the first floor.
The electronic resources will also be found in the same floor.
David said that Rizal Library will only store special collections, such as the Filipiniana Section, Ateneo Library for Women’s Writings, Pardo de Tavera Room, Microform Section, and the American Special Collection. The proposed library will contain the books students use in class, David said.
“The special materials are really supposed to be preserved because the assumption is you won’t find them elsewhere… The ordinary books that you use for your classes, you will find them in US, in Singapore, in any library.” David said, explaining the segregation.
‘Green building’
According to David, there is also a suggestion to use green-building technology for the construction and maintenance of the proposed library. “We will try to do water-recycling, we will try to do energy-saving,” she said.
David said that the Ateneo is looking into new ways of saving—“saving for the environment, for the people after us.”
‘All for it’
Benito Luis Concepcion (III BS Mgt) is in favor of the plan for the proposed library. “They should upgrade…their technology,” he said. Concepcion also said that the students need more room to study. “Matteo always gets filled up quickly.”
Maximilian King Fernandez (II AB Psy) agreed. He liked the planned rooms for discussion and studying. “I think it’s a great idea,” he said, adding that the Matteo Ricci was too far.
“If it’ll help the education system increase in efficiency then hey, I’m all for it,” Fernandez said.
