ALTHOUGH MOST might disagree, Rizal Library Director Lourdes David has always found Library Science very exciting.
Last June 20, her passion for the field was rewarded at the Manila Hotel, where she received the 2008 Outstanding Professional of the Year Award in Library Science.
The Outstanding Professional of the Year is given annually to various professionals in specific fields who, upon the recommendations of their peers, demonstrated competence and responsibility in their professions. It is the highest award bestowed by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).
PRC is a government commission established to manage the practice of professionals in the country.
The love to serve
David said that she has always found Library Science very exciting.
“Library Science is the study of the principles of organizing, selecting, and marketing information material to the public. It is making [information] available,” she said.
“It’s a very satisfying field,” she added.
“They say that Filipinos are not a reading public. This is because they cannot afford the books,” David said. A library solves this problem by acquiring, organizing, preserving, and providing access to information, she said.
Updating Rizal
David said the Rizal Library was one of the reasons she was chosen for the award.
Since her term as director in 2001, the library has constantly upgraded its technology to match the digital age.
“She is an expert,” said Estrella Angeles, Foreign Periodicals Staff, referring to David’s proficiency in computers.
Under David’s leadership, the Rizal Library has won the Philippine Association of Academic and Research Librarians’ Outstanding Library Award twice—first in 2004, and again in 2006.
David said that her involvement with several international organizations such as the World Health Organization, the Department of Science and Technology, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, was also a factor of her selection as Outstanding Professional.
For the past three years, the Rizal Library has also organized international library conferences attended by librarians, library educators, archivists, and students from all over the world.
Everybody’s win
Aside from being surprised, David said that she also felt very happy for the Ateneo when she received the award.
For David, it was not only she who won, but her entire staff at the Rizal Library.
“[The employees] are all very good….They’re outstanding,” she said.
