The Children's Library Project Closes

It's goodbye and it's painful!

After ten years of providing an avenue for bookworms and wanna-be bookworms, The Children's Library, a project of the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation, has officially closed last night. The remaining two branches, Imus and Novaliches, bid farewell to all it's patrons last night.

As their in-house storyteller in 2002-2003, I was given the opportunity to provide and facilitate sessions of storytelling and more. I joined puppet shows, book drives and inter-school contests as member and chairman of judge committee, truly a rare project that develops the creative side of anyone wishing to work with people. The Library has hosted thousands of activities that promotes reading, learning, environmental awareness and all sort of stuffs schools all over the world try to promote.

Spelling Bee, Speech and Oration, Mobile Reading Tour and Storytelling Contests are some of the major activities they've supported.  With it's closure,  the Library donated mosts of it's books and DVD's to three satellite libraries to neighboring towns of Imus.

In it's ten years, The Children's Library-Imus has become a part of most kids' malling routine. It has become a place for the youth to converge and read. A place that has offered them a chance to work as a volunteer for the younger ones, the eager ones. The Library has given us, it's patrons, an avenue to just be who we are, people who love to read. It has become a place for birthday parties, educational seminars and meeting place for everyone. The Children's Library has become an icon, a representation of love for learning, anywhere, anytime.

Last night, as I sat with my wife and kids watching the presentation prepared by Ana, Rod and Asia (staff of TCL-Imus), the nagging question in my head distracted me, "What will the people of Imus Cavite, patrons of the Robinsons Mall, do without the Library?"

Sadly, I don't have the answer, nor my wife or anyone I asked later on in the party.

Where do we go from here?