Castillo, Kathleen N (2004). An Assessment of
The Problem
This study aimed to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the public secondary school libraries in the Division of City Schools, manila and the extent of their compliance with the DECS Order Number 6 series of 1998, Policies and Programs for School Library Department.
Methodology
The study utilized the descriptive method of research. Likewise, observation and ocular inspection were used in this study to determine if the standard set by the Department of Education (DECS Order Number 6 series of 1998, Policies and Programs for School Library Development) were complied with. The study focused on the twenty-eight (28) public secondary school libraries in the six districts of the Division of Manila. Respondents for this study constituted the faculty, students and the librarian of each of the twenty-eight schools.
Findings
Of the twenty-eight public secondary school libraries, twenty-four have their libraries located in a separate room. The twenty-eight public secondary school libraries offer library orientation, circulation, cataloging, indexing services, reference service, and current awareness services. Majority of the school libraries have insufficient collection. Twenty-seven (27) public secondary school libraries complied with what have been stated by the standards set by DECS with regard to librarian’s qualifications; Majority (24) of the school libraries concerned do not follow the standard with regard to library funds. Modal frequencies show that teachers from the twenty-eight public secondary school libraries use their library mainly for research purposes, followed by “for lesson plan preparation, report, group meeting, and curriculum preparation.”
Conclusions
It can be concluded that this study attests to the fact that limitations in resources, especially monetary or financial resources, exert a great influence on the ability of the libraries to meet the demand and information needs of their faculty and students. It is due to this limitation that the twenty-eight libraries have not been able to meet their clientele’s needs’ satisfactorily.
Recommendations
The study recommends the following measures: a) since the 28 libraries do not completely comply with the standards stipulated in the DECS Order Number 6 series of 1998, librarians together with the principals and the members of their respective Library committees, must formulate policies and regulations to the above DECS Order; b) Libraries of the Manila City Division must be provided with adequate and continuing budgetary support as a separate item from the budget allotted to the different public secondary schools; c) The need to have a more organized collection is needed. It must be indexed, cataloged and classified properly; and lastly d) That the DECS Order Number 6 series of 1998 guidelines should be revised with the purpose of updating these to keep up with the latest developments and trends in school media centers.
