Going Beyond Borders for Books
Never in my wildest dreams had I ever imagined that my library degree, along with a little divine intervention, would carry me halfway around the world! Yet, this summer I found myself in just that situation. There is an urgent shortage of librarians in the Philippines. My friend Joyce Porcadilla, who is the President of the General Baptist Bible College and K-12 school in Davao City, Philippines, shared this with me when we had visited the summer before at a church convention. When she found out I was a librarian, she told me that they had not had a librarian in at least three years and that their library was in a bad state. I could hear the desperation in her voice. She needed a librarian to the rescue!!! How often does that happen on the mission field?
Also, she said if my husband, a GB pastor and Occupational Therapist, wanted to come and train teachers in Special Education (which does not exist in Philippine schools) and do some testing, therapy, and intervention strategies, his skills would be very useful for their faculty and students as well. And then, there are my two beautiful children, bless their hearts, who have become little gypsies following along across the world with pillow pets in tow, wherever the Lord is leading us.
Also, she said if my husband, a GB pastor and Occupational Therapist, wanted to come and train teachers in Special Education (which does not exist in Philippine schools) and do some testing, therapy, and intervention strategies, his skills would be very useful for their faculty and students as well. And then, there are my two beautiful children, bless their hearts, who have become little gypsies following along across the world with pillow pets in tow, wherever the Lord is leading us.
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| Davao airport |
After lots of prayer and discussion, my husband and I, along with our children, said, “Here we are, send us.” We would be spending a chunk of our summer in Davao. Months and months of logistical planning and gathering of funds and resources began. The planning process for bringing order out of chaos in a library that I’ve never seen is enough to make you wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night…”What am I overlooking?...What am I forgetting?..What if we need xy and z and I don’t have access there?” I was dealing with a lot of unknowns. I don’t do well with unknowns. Time to step out on faith! I was told that there were about 1,000 books that were being checked out with pen and paper. I also found out that I would have a computer and internet access. Good news!
As I began raising funds, on the top of my list was being able to provide the school with an online circulation system. Library World gave me a really good price on software and seemed to be the perfect solution for this issue. Another priority was purchasing a printer and extra cartridges that I could use to print labels with. Also, I would need a barcode scanner. Other items that I carried with me were labels and label covers, and various books that I had been able to purchase prior to arrival. I had to plan well so that my baggage weight would be acceptable. Still, there is no way that I could totally prepare for this experience.
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| Library-in-training Jett Esencia |
After 36 solid hours of travel from one side of the world to the other, and a good night’s sleep, I began my first day of work at the GBBC Library. First thing, I met the first year library student, whom I would be mentoring during my month in Davao. Jett, a bright-eyed 18 year old college student, would be my right-hand-man during this process. On the first walk through of the library, I found that the books did have Dewey spine labels but were in no way, shape, or form, in any kind of order, AND there was no card catalog. So I asked Jett what in the world kids did when they were looking for a book. He said, “They just walk around until they find it!” What?!?! They could spend years looking. Needless to say, we spent countless hours in the library moving large piles of books (no book trucks in Davao), cataloging book after book (1,500 at the time of my departure, with at least that many left to be done), putting labels on them, and then moving them back in correct Dewey order on the shelves.
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| GBBC Library |
Obstacles were plenty. There were lots and lots of books, however, some were falling apart because they were so old. The concept of weeding is an interesting one in a culture where nothing is thrown away because it might not be replaced. The desktop I was supposed to be using, was not cooperating. Luckily, I had a laptop with me that we could use until Jan Mercado, the most awesome Tech guy in all of the world, could fix it our desktop. My beautiful printer I had carried across the world caught fire when I plugged it in because of the voltage differences. I’m very thankful that Joyce knew a guy who could and would fix it and return it the next day. It was a miracle!!! The library had three window unit air conditioners; however, I compromised with Jett to only turn one on to cool the entire room. Poor soul, it was 90+ degrees out, and he wore his hoodie while I constantly wiped sweat off my brow. Fun times!
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| This is my serious cataloging face |
Internet usage was hit or miss. And the days when it was a miss were discouraging. I only had a limited amount of time to complete my goals for the GBBC library, and I quickly became frustrated with any downtime. I just had to remind myself that I was training Jett as best I could to carry on the work after I left..it was the old teach a boy to fish mentality. The downtime was a blessing in disguise. Those moments of nothing to do gave me a chance to interact with the small children who became curious about the visiting librarian and to get to know my fellow teachers and co-workers. I quickly discovered how magical these people were. Their resources were limited, but their hearts were huge and their creativity mind-blowing.
Oh, but the blessings were plenty! The funds we had received back home were used to increase the amount of children’s literature and young adult literature in the GBBC Library. The collection was heavy on theology, as would be appropriate for a Bible College, but Joyce really had a vision for increasing the collection of literature for the 700 elementary and high school students who shared the library with the college. I am proud to say that the GBBC Library is now the proud owner of the Harry Potter series, as well as, many other iconic books that have hooked kids on reading all around the world. Also, one of the main academic concerns was that their students were struggling with reading comprehension. It has always been my philosophy that exposure to printed material is the key to begin this process. They have to have something available to read in order to increase reading comprehension. I was able to train the faculty on reading comprehension strategies, but the best thing is that now they have more books than ever to expose their students to and to get them excited about reading.
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| Pint-sized library patrons |
My husband, Marcus, was able to evaluate and test several of their more severe students and do some therapy while he was there. The lack of special education classes and guidelines, leaves their teachers at a loss many times on how to best help their kids with learning disabilities. He was able to work with teachers on strategies for students with ADD and other learning disabilities. He also conducted inservice trainings on Autism, and various other diagnoses that needed to be addressed in the classroom. In addition to that, he preached during chapel and taught seminars on stress management, pastoral counseling and discipleship. I think a lot of the time, he was busier than I was. He made many special friends while he worked on campus who will be forever in his heart.
Together, we visited schools deep in the mountains and spoke to and encouraged teachers there. We were able as a family to travel to areas affected by Typhoon Pablo that came through and devastated part of the island. We shared some bananas at lunch on that trip that were the first fruits of the banana crop destroyed during the typhoon. That was the best banana I ever had. I’ll never forget it. My friend Joyce says that Filipinos are waterproof, and I believe her. They are such a resilient and joyful people in spite of great poverty and unthinkable tragedy.
Together, we visited schools deep in the mountains and spoke to and encouraged teachers there. We were able as a family to travel to areas affected by Typhoon Pablo that came through and devastated part of the island. We shared some bananas at lunch on that trip that were the first fruits of the banana crop destroyed during the typhoon. That was the best banana I ever had. I’ll never forget it. My friend Joyce says that Filipinos are waterproof, and I believe her. They are such a resilient and joyful people in spite of great poverty and unthinkable tragedy.
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| Rubble in Compostella Valley after Typhoon Pablo |
Since my return, I have remained in close contact with Jett, who recently, along with some of the staff, hosted a Read-a-thon. That made my heart so happy! I left him with a library plan and he updates me with funny pictures of him “drowning” in a pile of books to catalog. He has such a sense of humor! My heart wishes I could be there, but I know that I have work to do in my South Side Bee Branch library here. I came back with so much gratitude for the many resources we have at my school which I had taken for granted for so long. I may not miss the “bucket baths” or the rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (daily life was very different there), but I miss my passionate Filipino colleagues who inspire me every day to make much of the little things. The church my husband pastors keeps me on mission here at home, but I will forever be an advocate for my friends and colleagues on the other side of the world. I hope that in some small way, I have contributed to the education of these beautiful children and young adults. May they become future preachers, teachers, and world-changers.
