San Ildefonso Municipal Library

The Municipality of San Ildefonso can be found in the northern part of Bulacan and just one town away from the province of Nueva Ecija going north. It is known for its Bulak Festival which gives tribute to its former name Bulak, referring to Kapok trees abundant in the place in the past. This verdant town has for its own a municipal library intended to serve the needs of the townspeople: the San Ildefonso Municipal Library. Said library is currently housed in the daycare center of Nabaong Garlang, a barangay north of the town center, near the San Ildefonso's boundary with San Miguel. It is presently under the care of Mrs. Mercedita P. Orosco. 

Nabaong Garlang Daycare Center serving as San Ildefonso Municipal Library

Different from other public libraries of Bulacan, San Ildefonso Municipal Library is away from the municipal center or any major highway. It can only be reached by going to Barangay Anyatam and from there, riding a tricycle going to the Nabaong Garlang Barangay Hall where the library (or a semblance of that) can be found. It has been manned by Mrs. Orosco (who also serves as the barangay daycare teacher) since it was founded in 2001, and really needs a new home and better location so it can better serve the people of San Ildefonso.

Location Map of San Ildefonso Municipal Library

THE SAN ILDEFONSO MUNICIPAL LIBRARY EXPERIENCE

Based on the Interview with Mrs. Mercedita Orosco,
Municipal Librarian (2001 - Present) 

The San Ildefonso Municipal Library can be considered a municipal library by name only. In reality, it is a barangay library which started and had its glory days in 2001 as a Community Learning Resource Center (CLRC) serving Nabaong Garlang as well as the clusters of barangay around it such as Mataas Na Parang, Anyatam, Santa Catalina, and Sumandig. 

Community Learning Resource Center (CLRC), the predecessor of San Ildefonso Municipal Library 

Inside the Nabaong Garlang CLRC 

Key players in the foundation of the said CLRC are Mrs. Adora Catacutan Cruz, former principal of Nabaong Garlang Elementary School, and other school heads of the neighboring barangays. She is the one who supported the appointment of Mrs. Orosco as the CLRC librarian, and continued to support the library until her death. Other supporters were: the barangay head that time, Rolando Cruz, who donated funds for the painting of the CLRC building as well as making bookshelves for the library; former Barangay Head Valentin Cruz who helped in soliciting books to beef up the library's collection, and; Mrs. Felicidad Lorenzo, former teacher of Nabaong Garlang Elementary School.

Mrs. Adora Cruz, one of the key players
in the establishment of the Nabaong Garlang CLRC

Felicidad Lorenzo, former teacher at Nabaong Garlang
Elementary School and one of the benefactors of the CLRC

Mrs. Mercedita Orosco, the assigned librarian, finished her degree of Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education from Bulacan National Agricultural School in 1985. In 1987, she started working as the daycare center teacher of the Nabaong Garlang Daycare Center, and has held that position until the present. She became the CLRC Librarian due to the recommendations of the people who has witnessed her exemplary work as the daycare center teacher. Under her, the library has seen fortunate days during its early years of operation. It was declared as the best CLRC in all of Region 3 in 2001. Another string of awards for the library came in the succeeding years and it became a Hall of Famer for Region 3 according to Mrs. Orosco. That's the main reason why then Mayor Sazo Galvez elevated Mrs. Orosco's position as the municipal librarian, thus adopting the CLRC as the municipal library too. 

Mrs. Mercedita Orosco, CLRC Librarian (2001)

Kubo beside the CLRC used as reading area

At the start, the library has it's own building constructed through the support of the then-Mayor Sazo Galvez and then-Congressman Ricardo Silverio. It has a small "kubo" beside it that functioned as additional reading area aside from the reading area inside. Many books can be found inside the library, most of which came from solicitations made by the barangay officials, school teachers, and Mrs. Orosco herself. When Mrs. Orosco was sent by the Municipality of San Ildefonso for a training in the National Library of the Philippines (NLP), she met the then-Director Prudenciana Cruz and she was told to affiliate the San Ildefonso Municipal Library to the NLP. Since then, the library has been receiving yearly book allocation that adds up to its collection.

Mrs. Mercedita Orosco inside Nabaong Garlang Daycare Center/San Ildefonso Municipal Library

But the recent years haven't favored the library that much. The building intended to be the home of the CLRC, later the San Ildefonso Municipal Library, was re-purposed as the barangay hall of Nabaong Garlang when the former one was demolished. The library was displaced and transferred to an attached room to the main building which also functions as the barangay daycare center. This room was just an additional part of the main CLRC building constructed through the Php 100,000.00 cash prize given by former Mayor Sazo Galvez because of the CLRC library being a Hall of Fame awardee. The small lot where this room stands is donated by a local, Mr. Temistocles Cabande Sr.  

The present Nabaong Garlang Barangay Hall which used to be the CLRC

Presently, the library cum daycare center houses a small collection of mostly elementary and high school books. It was badly affected by Typhoon Yolanda in 2013 when many books were lost due to the water entering the room, and later being infested by termites. The collection and the library is visibly affected by these unfortunate events that the place can hardly be called a library anymore. There are no reading area presently except the very same area used for daycare classes, with no chairs and tables for the library users. The room has no ceiling so the collection is not safe from the elements, may it be water when another typhoon comes, or the extreme heat in the summer days. It is still very much prone to another termite infestation. To keep valuable books in their mint condition, especially those which came from the National Library, the librarian stores them temporarily at her house which is not that far from the daycare center. 

Having no place that one can really call a legitimate library is just one of the biggest worry of the librarian. During the interview with her, she quipped that she's willing to wait for a time to come when the municipal government is able to provide her with a place in the town center where she can better set up the municipal library, provided it happen before she retires.



To listen to the author's whole interview with Mrs. Orosco, you may go to the Bulacan Provincial Library and ask the librarian there about the ORAL HISTORY OF BULACAN PUBLIC LIBRARIES PROJECT. Transcript of the whole interview is also available on site.