A Guide to the National Library

Pambansang Aklatan (The National Library)
T.M. Kalaw St., Ermita,Manila 1000
Tel. Nos.: 525-1748/525-3196
Website: http://www.nlp.gov.ph/
Reading Rooms/Library Services Hours: 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM Monday to Saturday

How to get there:
Cab: Just tell the cab driver National Library in T.M. Kalaw. (fare - around 120 Php from Makati)
PUJ: No idea
MRT/LRT: from EDSA - Get off MRT Taft Station. Walk towards the LRT Taft station. Buy 1-way ticket (15 Php). Get off at the UN Avenue Station. Walk down UN Avenue then turn right on Mabini Street. Cross T.M. Kalaw to reach the library.

New library users must first apply for a library card. You cannot read and even browse books without a library card. Apply for the ID at the cashier, located on your left upon entering the building. You must have a 1x1 photo for the library card and a valid ID. Pay 50 Php for the card, glue the 1x1 photo and sign it.

You must deposit your bag (if you have one) at the bags counter, located on the right side of the first floor (or the East Wing). You can only bring your library card, pen, paper and valuables. You then proceed to the floor of your choice.

Information Technology Division - 1st Floor, Data Center
Reference Division - 2nd Floor, West Wing
Filipiniana Division - 3rd Floor, West Wing
Public Libraries Division - 3rd Floor, East Wing
Catalog Division - 4th Floor, West Wing
Research and Publication Division - 4th Floor, West Wing
Finance and Administrative Division - 4th Floor, East Wing
Bibliographic Services Division - 4th Floor Mezzanine, West Wing
Collection Development Division - 5th Floor, East Wing

My destination is always the Filipiniana Division on the 3rd floor, as I wanted to research about the history of Intramuros. First thing to do is to log in at the division entrance. The library has the NLP OPAC system where you can search for materials that library has. It's like doing a Google search, type in the title of the material and the system will give you the results.

You then write the title, author, shelf location and call number of the book on the query cards (You can get these from the librarians). Present the query card to the librarian and you will be given the exact shelf number. You have to look for the book yourself. It's quite easy to find the books since they are well-organized.

By the way if you want to photocopy the books, it's 1 Php per page and you can only bring out 2 books at a time. For their microfilm printing (2nd Floor, East Wing), if I remember it right it's 7 Php per page.

Services of NLP
1. Online Public Access Catalog (on-site and via Internet)
2. Philippine eLibrary Kiosk Services
3. Reading Room Services
4. Photocopying Services
5. Microfilm and Digital Material Printing Services
6. Storytelling Services
7. Copyright registration Services
8. ISBN registration Services
9. ISSN registration Services
10. ISMN registration Services
11. Library tour Services

national library of the philippines

The National Library of the Philippines building isn't that impressive like the other Neo-Classical buildings near the area (i.e., old Legislative Building). I believe it's a five-story structure that needs to be torn down! Our rare Filipiniana collections deserves a much better edifice, a structure conducive for reading and research! I for one didn't know the history of the library but thanks to the internet and published books, I am now aware of its rich history (with its vast pre-war collection). Here are some of the information I was able to gather about its history and collection.

HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF THE PHILIPPINES

The forerunner of what is now The National Library may be traced back to the last decade of the Spanish colonial period, with the inauguration of the Museo-Biblioteca de Filipinas in 1891. Its location was on No. 12, Gunao Street, Quiapo, Manila. It had a collection of about 100 Filipiniana works open to the public free of charge.

The Philippine-American War brought damage to the collection; those recovered passed on to the collection of the American Circulating Library organized by the American Circulating Library Association of Manila on March 9, 1900. The American Circulating Library had some 10,000 volumes of collection, composed wholly of American books, most of which were fiction, while its Filipiniana comprised only a small portion. The Library's first location was on 70 Rosario St., Binondo, Manila.

The Association found it hard to maintain the Library's expenses. It decided to donate its collection to the American Military government in the Philippines. Act No. 96 passed by the Philippine Commission on March 5, 1901 formalized the donation. This date marks the foundation of public libraries in the Philippines.

In May 1904, the Library moved to the Oriente Hotel on Plaza Calderon de la Barca between Oriente and Veronica Streets. The government reorganization in November 1905 made the Library a division of the Bureau of Education. Hence, in March 1906, it moved again to the Bureau of Education building located at the corner of Cabildo and Recoletos Streets, Intramuros, Manila.

The lawmakers in the Philippines Assembly created the Philippine Public Library through Act No. 1849, June 3, 1908. A year after, on May 20, 1909, Act No. 1935 was passed renaming the Library as Philippine Library. In October 1911, the Library change its location to a building along Santa Potentiana Street, Intramuros, Manila. It stayed there until July 1927. Meanwhile, Act No. 2572 of January 31, 1918 merged the Library with two other offices - the Executive Bureau's Division of Archives, Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks and the Law Library of the Philippine Assembly - to be named The Philippine Library and Museums.

Act No. 3477 passed on December 7, 1928 separated the Museum from the Library, the one becoming the National Museum, the other The National Library. The latter moved to the Legislative Building remaining there until 1944. The reorganization of the Library after World War II also changed its location to the former Bilibid Prison, Oroquieta St., Sampaloc, Manila starting in June 1945. Executive Order No., 94, series 1947 changed the name of the Library to Bureau of Public Libraries which went back in June 1950 to its previous location at the Legislative Building. After several months there, the Philippine Assembly ordered it to move out, occupying the old Philippine Assembly buildings instead at the corner of Lepanto (now S.H. Loyola) and P. Paredes St., in Sampaloc.

In 1955, the Library moved once more to the discarded buildings of the Department of Foreign Affairs on Arlegui St., although the General Reference Division was still housed on P. Paredes Street and the Research and Bibliography Division, including the Binding Section were still located in the old Bilibid Prison in Oroquieta St. The passage of Republic Act No. 3873, June 18, 1964, reverted the name to the National Library.

Finally, from different locations, the Library is now located on the southeast side of Rizal Park. The building faces T.M. Kalaw Street, occupies a total of 26,400 sq.ft. of ground and has a total floor space of 198,700 sq.ft. It was inaugurated in June 1961 in commemoration of the 100th birth anniversary of the Filipino national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal.

Old Legislative Building

OLD LEGISLATIVE BUILDING BACKGROUND

Built in 1921, the Legislative Building at the corner of Taft Avenue and P. Burgos Drive was intended to be used as a museum-library as proposed in Burnham's Plan for Manila. The building was part of the "Capitoline structure," an impressive design in neo-classical architecture for a government center made by David H. Burnham.

The building, which occupies an entire triangular block, was started early in the 1920's. Work on it was sporadic, however, and it was finished in 1926 at a cost of P4,075,000. Upon the establishment of the Commonwealth government, the building became the Legislative Building (popularly Congress Building). Only half-finished, the National Library was allowed to occupy the basement. Though built to be earthquake-resistant, the building did not survive the Second World War devastation when the liberation forces bombed and shelled the building where the Japanese troops had made one of their last stands in Manila. Except for the central portion, the structure was beyond repair.

The building was reconstructed with some modifications. Designed by Ralph Doane and Antonio Toledo, the facade of the buildign had classical features using stylized Corinthian columns, ornamentation and Renaissance inspired sculptural forms.

VICTIM OF WAR

The bulk of the holdings of the National Library and Museum had been moved into the basement of the Legislative Building in the belief that it was a stronghold, safer than the other buildings they had been stored in. The Legislative Building, of course, was completely destroyed. The library holdings included 300,000 books and 25,000 assorted journals and pamphlets. The originals of some Rizal letters and other documents had been deposited in the Manila City Hall vault. They were never found again.

CURRENT LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

Today, the National Library has almost a million volumes of books, monographs, newspapers, and picture collections. Housed in the National Library of the Philippines are the following valuable collections: The President Manuel L. Quezon Papers, the President Manuel A. Roxas Papers, the Julian Cruz Balmaceda Collection, the Lope K. Santos Collection, the General Carlos P. Romulo Memorabilia, the Philippine Revolutionary Papers (1892-1906), rare Philippine newspapers and magazines such as El Indio Agraviado, La Lectura Popular, El Renacimiento, Muling Pagsilang, El Crito del Pueblo, El Heraldo de la Revolucion, and La Independencia. The "crown jewels" of the National Library are the Dr. Jose P. Rizal manuscripts, notably the original manuscripts of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

Another part of history of the Philippines is the Philippine incunabulas. The incunabulas are the printed works thatwereproduced by the native printing press when it was still at its infancy. National Library of the Philippines has in its possession four extant copies of eight Philippine incunabulas.

SOURCES:
Texts: History of the National Library

Legislative Building Background: Official Buildings of the House of Representative
- The Legislative Building; and Imperial Tapestry: American Colonial Architecture in the Philippines by Norma I. Alarcon, Fuap; p. 132-133
Victim of War: By Sword and Fire: The Destruction of Manila in World War II
by Alfonso Aluit; p. 408
Current Collections: Manila Bulletin Article 107th Anniversary of the National Library of the Philippines; and National Library of the Philippines by Adoracion Mendoza Bolos; p. 232

Image: Imperial Tapestry: American Colonial Architecture in the Philippines by Norma I. Alarcon, Fuap; p. 133

Museo Pambata, Luneta Hotel and National Library all in one day!

I had plans to visit the Museo Pambata at 8 AM but ended up slumbering in my bed until 10 AM. The timing can never be perfect because I had been wanting to go the National Library to do some research on the history of Philippine postcards for my other blog. The last time I visited the library was in 2001 when I applied for a library card, which I wasn't able to get and use. Now I have more reasons to visit the library. But my research was cut short because of the commotion of the students in the room. They were rushing to get out because of the earthquake (which twice shaked the building!). Honestly I only felt the second one, and it didn't bother me at all that I still continued reading my books. But for everyone's safety the librarians decided that all should empty the building. With a disappointment in my face, I exited the room and decided to just visit the old Luneta Hotel, one of the few remaining structures that survived World War II. One can easily recognize the hotel if one is leaving the library. I was tempted to enter with hotel (which was undergoing renovation) but decided it's not a good idea (Am alone and an aftershock worried me and workers in the building.) It's the old, abandoned building at the corner of Kalaw and Roxas Boulevard which once was one of the most elegant hotels in Manila. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take any photos.