LGUs urged to put up internet-ready barangay reading centers
The Local Government Units (LGUs) are encouraged to establish Barangay Reading Centers (BRCs) and equip such centers with computers and Internet connectivity so that they can benefit from the first public electronic library, Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno said.
The establishment of Barangay Reading Centers is a provision under the Local Government Code of 1991.
Secretary Ronaldo Puno said governors, mayors and punong barangays are encouraged to establish the BRCs so that the public, especially the researchers and students can avail themselves of the e-Library which can be accessed through www.elib.gov.ph.
Puno said Internet-ready BRCs will enable barangay residents to browse the e-Library even if they do not have access to Web-equipped university libraries and public provincial and city libraries.
The e-Library, a government project managed by the National Library of the Philippines (NLP), provides access to catalogues of the NLP, University of the Philippines, Department of Science and Technology, and the Commission on Higher Education, including Filipiniana materials, theses, dissertations, research works, on-line resources and subscriptions to electronic data bases.
The e-Library has close to one million materials of free Bibliographic data and over 12,000 pages of Filipiniana works.
According to the National Library, the e-Lib also has some 800,000 items on Philippine literature and photo collections, while among the materials that can be downloaded are the Tagalog text with illustrations of Dr. Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere; research works on the local abaca industry; various theses on Philippine resistance movements, books on architecture and other studies. (PIA 6)