ASLP Forum : Information and Media: The Role of the Library in the Re-shaping of Information

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Mr. Jose Javier Reyes

I love watching movies. Comedy, Horror, Action, Romantic, Adventure... Name it. Mainstream or Indie.

Media.

One of my favorite romantic comedy films of Regine Velasquez is Pangako... Ikaw Lang. In one of the scenes, while she is having conversations with his ailing dad:

Dad: Bakit ganyan itsura mo? (Why do you look like that?)
Regine: Huh? Bakit? ano ba itsura ko? (Why, how do I look?)
Dad: Mukha kang Losyang. Para kang LIBRARIAN. (You look like an old unfashionable lady. Like a LIBRARIAN).

NOTE: Regine's character portrayed in the movie is not a librarian in fact, she is a business woman. But why of all professions in the world does his father describe her as a losyang like a Librarian? 


The Association of Special Libraries of the Philippines, Inc. (ASLP) in partnership with Primetrade Asia, Inc. had its forum on "Information and Media: The Role of the Library in the Re-shaping of Information" during the 34th Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) on September 12, 2013

The speaker of the forum is Mr. Jose Javier Reyes, a well-known Director and a Professor at the De La Salle University.



Mr. Jose Javier Reyes

Media. Films. Television. 

 The forum is like a blockbuster movie wherein the lead character is Mr. Jose Javier Reyes. 

 The producer is the Association of Special Libraries of the Philippines, Inc. (ASLP) and 

 The audience or shall we say the "fans" is the librarians all over the Philippines. 

 What impressed me is that he did his presentation without power point or whatever audio visual.

 As he said, his mere presence is an AUDIO VISUAL!

 All librarians were attentive, listening, note taking, nodding their heads, clapping their hands, laughing and were very entertained with some "juicy" details shared by Mr. Reyes.

 That is what we call POWER. MEDIA. The power of media.



Librarians all over the Philippines

 Some of the highlights of his presentation:
  • Encyclopedia is now replaced by Google. Before, the students go to the library, use the catalog, index, take down notes. Now, students just google which is often resulting to copy paste information.
  • Students read out of requirements or read books for entertainment. 
  • The moment you wake, you are bombarded by information. Television, Radio, Internet, Social Media.
  • Media does not give us time to synthesize. It is fragmentize
  • Because of the abundance and the accessibility of information, we no longer realize what is important.
  • Because of television, what is REAL is not necessary TRUE; What is TRUE is not necessary REAL.
  • Because of Media, people no longer think. They just accept information
  • What we fail to see is that media is made for profit.
  • He always advised students to read not just watch films so that they would have an idea what to write and they could create something new.
  • Media can create things in Kingdom. He who has the access to information has the power, more so, he who controls the information has more POWER.

In his presentation, he always talks about MEDIA. Films, Radio, Showbiz, Social issues. Now how does library fit-in? This is the challenge for the Libraries and Librarians.

Librarians in films are often portrayed as meek, timid, and unassertive in nature. Movies had established the stereotype of librarians as "spinsters" and "eggheads", unmarried, prim, and introverted.

Even on small screen or telenovela it follows the same stereotypes as those found in motion pictures. The librarian is often shown silencing the main characters - especially younger children - when they're in a library area which is often become (LOVE-RARY where they do some naughty stuffs). Some even ban the characters from the libraries for making rude or strange noises.

That is why I asked Mr. Reyes the question “How can we change the mind-set of people about Librarians and Libraries?”

He answered, “This is your challenge. We cannot change the way Media think about you. It should start it with you. You are the one who can reshape that impression. Be an active Librarian. Make friends with your students. Connect with the students so that they will change the impression that you are a not a traditional librarian. Be a modern librarian. Keep people to read. Because when they read, they are force to THINK. The Challenge is NOW!”
He even mentioned the movie of Vilma Santos in the movie In My Life where she portrays a “losyang” librarian. (Read Filipino Librarian's blog on Vilma Santos as a Librarian http://filipinolibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/08/vilma-santos-librarian.html)

He also thought “What if Anne Curtis portrays the role of a librarian? Will the people change the way they look at you?”

Though, media portrays stereotype librarian, in reality, there are lots of librarians who are active not only to their libraries but also active in supporting different advocacies.

To Mr. Reyes, I accept the CHALLENGE. As a SOCIAL MEDIA LIBRARIAN, I could change the way people think about Librarians.

I am 100 % PROUD PINOY LIBRARIAN

How about you, my fellow librarians? Do you accept the CHALLENGE?

Thank you Mr. Jose Javier Reyes for the fruitful (with juicy details) information.


ASLP tarpaulin

Congratulations to the Association of Special Libraries of the Philippines, Inc. (ASLP) for organizing this event.



with Cebu Normal University Librarians
Lots of "fans" flocked to Mr. Jose Javier Reyes to have their photo op. Well, I have my own set of "fans" hahaha! Here with me is the librarians from Cebu Normal University. They are very nice to me during my stay there in Cebu.



iNeed iValue iLove my Library Merchandise

T-shirts and books can be bought outside the meeting room.

iNeed iValue iLove my Library Merchandise

The active librarians of UP-Diliman. Love those shirts! 

UPDATE: Here's some of the tweets for ASLP

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