I was the resident bookworm of the family up to this day and the National Library was a favorite hangout of mine back in college. When I majored in Computer Science, the course was pretty new in the country and was only on its second year. You couldn't Google a question, Yahoo reigned and the iPad wasn't invented yet. Students still had to rely on good old trusty books, yes, not eBooks, for reading and research materials. If you're a millennial then a library card wouldn't ring a bell to you, but it was essential to students back my day.
August indeed is a great month for book lovers, as if the annual Books For Less warehouse sale isn't enough, an announcement from the National Library of the Philippines through their official Facebook page just made it even better! As of August 16, the public can now have access to their favorite books and reading materials available at the National Library of the Philippines for free.
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| Photo Credits to the owner |
No Library Card? No Problem!
The National Library of the Philippines now opens its doors to everyone who needs a place to read and conduct their research. You no longer need an NLP library card to access thousands upon thousands of library materials at the library. Simply present a valid ID upon your visit and you're ready to go!
Thinking about visiting the library soon? Please be reminded that:
- They are open from Mondays to Fridays, 8am to 5pm.
- To avoid inconveniences, please feel free to browse their collections first through our Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) here: koha.nlp.gov.ph
- Smoking is strictly prohibited within the compound while food and beverages are not allowed inside the reading rooms.
Forms for copyright and ISBN can be found here: https://goo.gl/19Aela
The library has retained a few ground rules, though, like the books being strictly for
room-use only and photocopying is allowed only for certain pages. The
public is not allowed to take photos of some materials, such as theses.
Smoking, eating, and drinking are prohibited for obvious reasons.
One cool addition to my favorite reading spot, that I recently found out as well, is that the east wing of the library's second floor has free Wi-Fi.
The National Library of the Philippines is still undergoing construction, which only means that we are in for more changes in the future. By the way, for those of you who don't know, the library is located at T.M Kalaw St. Ermita, Manila. It's near the university Anne and I went to, that's why I frequently visited and did most of my homework that needed research there.
I don't know about you guys, but a trip to the National Library sounds great right now. Can't wait to bring my kids there as well and show them how research was done without the internet.
I don't know about you guys, but a trip to the National Library sounds great right now. Can't wait to bring my kids there as well and show them how research was done without the internet.
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