(FEB. 1)—The “I Need. I Value. I Love My Library” Campaign (ILML) of the UP College of Engineering (COE) Library is the 2020 PAARL Awards Outstanding Library Program at the PAARL Annual Assembly on Jan. 29.
Given by the Philippine Association of Academic/Research Librarians, Inc. (PAARL), the Outstanding Library Program Award is given to an academic or research library in recognition of its “outstanding library program that contributes to Philippine academic librarianship and library development in the Philippines.”
According to the PAARL website, “The library program must have a strong impact on the library community, be innovative, sustainable and may be replicated to other library communities, or institutions.”
ILML earned for the COE Library a plaque of recognition and a cash award of P10,000.
The COE Library began ILML in 2008 “to help librarians and information professionals promote the responsible use of the library, its resources, and facilities to their user communities.”
It promotes shared responsibility among library administrators and users in the care, upkeep and maintenance of library materials, facilities and equipment.
In the years since its conception, the campaign has been adopted and implemented by many library institutions both in and out of the country: two within the UP System, 88 nationwide and seven more abroad, including University of Delhi.
The campaign regularly holds benefit block screenings and sells merchandise to support its engagement with the library users and the library community at large.
ILML held the COEXIST: Help Rebuild Libraries and Communities fun run from 2016 to 2018 and in 2017 with the help of University and industry partners, it was able to donate materials and equipment to the Cagayan State University library, Don Honorio Ventura Technological State University and other academic libraries.
That same year COE Head Librarian Sharon Maria Esposo-Betan received the Irmgard Lankenau Poster Award at the 38thAnnual International Association of University Libraries Conference held in Bolzano, Italy for her poster featuring the ILML.
The annual PAARL Awards are given to “foster the professional growth of academic/research librarians; and to give recognition for special achievements.”
The other institutional library honored in the event is the Benguet State University Library and Information Services, which won the Outstanding Academic Library Award.
Founded in 1973 by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities, PAARL is an association of academic and research librarians in the Philippines that upholds the profession of academic and research librarianship in the country.
Its principal mission is to “articulate the concerns of academic and research librarians and their institutions, and to influence information policy development affecting the future of academic and research libraries.”