Clamor for more efficient public libraries was mounted online after the Valenzuela City Library posted a high visitor rate during its first year of operations.
The city library on January 7 reported that it recorded a total of 440,883 visitors from its opening day on Feb. 24. 2023 until December 29,2023.
“Maraming salamat po sa inyong patuloy na pagtangkilik sa ating Aklatan,” it said on a Facebook post with a heart hands emoji.
Valenzuela City Library is open from Monday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 12 midnight.
The high visitor rate was warmly received by some Filipinos on the X (formerly Twitter) platform, who hoped that local government units could also open similar facilities in their respective areas.
“Libraries are one of the best [third] spaces where you don’t need to spend anything. This, below, is the perfect example of ‘build it and they’ll come.’ Make it a requirement. Make it a priority. Give it funding. Create a program to activate it. Make it accessible,” a Pinoy wrote.
“Kung bakit kasi wala sa bayan namin na ganito, e, para ‘di na kami magbabayad sa study hub na malapit sa amin tsk3 [tsk tsk tsk],” another X user commented.
“Ganda ditooo, hindi lang library talaga [siya], may mga conference rooms where you can have a meeting with your groupmates (especially college students) and also training halls na gamit na gamit ng DC, HAHAHAHA, more libraries pa pooo,” wrote another Pinoy.
“How [I] wish we get more public libraries in Iloilo,” commented a different user.
“Manila needs this, daming [universities] diyan,” another Filipino commented.
“Para sa @OFFICIALMUNTI and @PasigInfo, may libraries din po ba like this sa inyong respective cities? ‘Yung open [24 hours] or kahit hindi, basta late nagsasara? Badly needed po kasi ng mga tulad namin na walang makitang conducive place, aside sa mga coffee shops,” a research scientist wrote.
Others shared their good experiences with the state-of-the-art city library.
“Salamat, [ValACE]! Eto ang naging sandalan ko sa pagre-review nung boards, HAHAHAHAHA,” an X user wrote.
“Simula magbukas ‘to nung [February], halos araw-araw na ako nandito. Dito ako nag-review nung integ days. Ngayon, dito uli ako nagre-review pero for CPA boards na,” another Pinoy shared.
The city library similarly earned online buzz when it opened its doors for the first time to the public in February last year.
Social media users expressed amazement over its modern facilities and its “welcoming ambiance.”
RELATED: You can now visit Valenzuela’s state-of-the-art city library
The Valenzuela City Library is located at the Valenzuela Academic Center for Excellence (ValACE) in Barangay Malinta.
Apart from bookshelves, it has expansive study rooms for students and separate rooms for persons with disabilities (PWD) and children readers.
The city library is also equipped with computer rooms for those who need to do research, among others.