THE National Library of the Philippines (NLP) conferred the “Most Innovative Public Library Award” under the building/physical set-up category to the Bangsamoro Library and Archives (BLA).
The award was conferred to the BLA in the recently concluded “2022 Search for the Gawad Parangal sa Natatanging Tagapangasiwa at Tagapaglingkod ng Pampublikong Aklatan.”
BLA was recognized for its "remarkable initiatives, significant contributions, diligence, and innovative ideas to the advancement of librarianship."
The BLA also ranked fifth in the Top 10 Most Diligent Public Library for 2021.
Kamila Unda, BLA chief librarian, said Wednesday, August 24, that the annual competition, which started in 2019, is open to all public libraries across the country.
"The competition is organized by the National Library and one of the criteria to qualify is the on-time submission of report without delay. As part of our function to provide services, we are compliant with the timely submission of our reports," Unda said.
BLA, the only functional regional library in the Philippines, is "mandated to collect, maintain, and preserve regional vital documents and laws, legislations, reports, orders/issuances, and other documents of similar importance".
It shall also serve as the primary instrumentality of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm) in providing free library services to as many people as possible and maintaining viable cooperation with the National Library together with other public libraries in providing the maximum benefits of a wider variety data and information.
Unda said the BLA client visits range from 700 to 800 monthly based on their 2021 data.
“This data includes physical and online visitors,” she added. (SunStar Zamboanga)