THE opening of four-story 24/7 public library will be rescheduled next year, the Davao City Library and Information Center (CLIC) said.
CLIC officer-in-charge Salome Enoc told Sunstar Davao on Wednesday, October 2, that the delayed construction was due to budget constraints.
Enoc said they are currently requesting for an additional P108 million budget to "fully furnish" its construction.
"Ang P108 million nga gi-add nga amount, para na siya tanan-tanan nga naa sa sulod sa building, apil na ang elevator, online materials ug books, ug mga green-type aircons (The P108 million that we additionally requested will include all the amenities inside the building. These include the elevators, online materials and books, and green-type aircons)," she said.
She said she cannot give a concrete reason for the request for additional funding since the City Engineer's Office and the City Planning and Development Office are manning the construction.
In a previous report, Enoc said contractors assured them that the building will be in full operation before the year ends.
As of now, she said there is no fixed date for its opening next year.
Meanwhile, she said the new public library is 90 percent complete based on structure assessment.
Originally, the city public library was slated to be fully operational by April this year. However, the library said contractors had to adjust the foundation ground of the building as they did not expect the area to be muddy.
The librarian said although there were some minor changes, but the original design plan was still followed.
She said rain water also affected the progress of the construction. When it is raining, water would collect at the construction site and had to be extracted.
The new public library is located along C. Bangoy Street and will operate 24 hours. The library's current location is at the third floor of the City Council building along San Pedro Street, which only operates from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The library will have a cafeteria on the first floor, a children's library on the second floor, and a readers' area on the third floor.
The fourth floor will be intended for conference room, information technology (IT) hub, and some offices. Enoc said adding an IT hub was due to public clamor.
Enoc also said a parking area will also be provided for library-goers. (With Grace D. Daypan, UM Intern)