TO mark the 113th Public Library Day, the National Library of the Philippines (NLP) will conduct a panel discussion on “The Librarians in the World of Copyright” on March 11, 2013 at the NLP Auditorium. The event seeks to raise the awareness of public librarians on developments and issues pertinent to copyright.

The country’s first public library was the American Circulating Library (ACL) that was established in Manila on March 9, 1900, to honor American serviceman Charles R. Greenleaf. On March 5, 1901, the American Military Governor in the Philippines, by authority vested in him by the United States of America Philippine Commission through Public Act No. 96, accepted the Circulating Library as a donation of the ACL Association to the American Insular Government.

Public Law Act No. 1935, consolidated all libraries belonging to any branch of the Philippine government and created the Philippine Library. In 1916, the Philippine Library, the Division of Archives, Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks of the Executive Bureau, and the Law Library of the Philippine Assembly were merged into one entity, called the Philippine Library and Museum (PLM). Twelve years later, the Philippine Legislature separated the museum from the library; Public Law No. 3477 (1928) established the National Museum under the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources and changed the name of the PLM to the National Library.

As the repository of the country’s printed and recorded cultural, intellectual, literary, and other information materials, the NLP houses the following sections and offers the followings services: Readers Services, Technical Services, Cataloging in Publication, Copyright, International Standard Book Number, International Standard Music Number, International Standard Serial Number, and Inter-Library Loan. Taking advantage of technological innovations, the NLP in cooperation with the University of the Philippines, the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Agriculture, and the Commission on Higher Education is maintaining the Philippine eLib that provides for the information needs of all sectors of society, with over a million bibliographic resources, 25 million pages of Philippine materials, and 29,000 full-text journals.

We congratulate the National Library of the Philippines led by Director Antonio M. Santos, Assistant Director Yolanda E. Jacinto, and Division Chiefs, other Officers and Personnel, on the occasion of the 113th Public Library Day. CONGRATULATIONS AND MABUHAY!