Guests are prohibited from entering the Filipinas Heritage Library during inventory period.
But how did I manage to get in? I just walked in, took a couple of brochures, and went straight ahead to their posh Reading Room, looked around for someone I could ask where the library itself is, then felt something is wrong.
The Filipinas Heritage Library was closed that day (www.filipinaslibrary.org.ph).
Then I saw one of my favorite books back in college, Rizal in Saga: A Life for Student Fans (a Philippine centennial project) by Nick Joaquin. I reread some essays like those about Maria Clara not really a weakling, and about Pepe as a timid little boy with too big a head. What still draws me to this national hero’s biography is Jason Moss’ impressionist artworks that appear before every chapter.
So there I was, reading on a couch while employees pass by, till my tummy groaned out of hunger, so I went back to the information desk, and was halted by the guard (when I was about to exit) saying that the library is closed.
- the multi-functional Reading Room
Of course, I still apologized, but inquired about their services. Manong said I should call the Filipiniana section at the basement, so call I did, and this is what they have in store for me–if only they’re not busy with the inventory:
• special collections about Philippine life since the Spanish regime
• antiquated photos of Manila
• Rizaliana (letters, photos, documents, and other stuff by or about the national hero. these are quite an exciting find for history fanatics especially for the Rizalistas)
•music collection (there’s a music station downstairs!)
• coffeetable books owned and published by the Ayalas and friends (a must-see for the curious me)
After the informative call to that person downstairs, I sort of paged for my classmate in CL 370 (Ms Faye Cura) who works there. To my delight, she toured me around, except down the enigmatic basement (where the inventory’s going on). We went up to the “tower”, which — she explained — used to be a control tower since Filipinas Heritage Library was the first ‘modern’ airport in the country, then converted to a library rented sometimes for seminars and special ocassions (the Reading Room, for instance, costs Php10,000 for the first few hours).
When I left, I was drooling over a wishful thinking that libraries around the country are as cozy and civilized as this one in Makati.
wow ang ganda ng entrance 🙂 hehehe pero sayang closed ung library…
kung ganito lang sana ang mga libraries.
wow. ganda naman ng library na un! ^^ may mga ibang bagay pa na di lang puro libro, astig! ^^ at may guard pa. sarap siguro dun tumambay! ^^
dude, every decent building ought to have a guard, most especially libraries that house rare and special collections.
oh, what’s interesting about their guard is that he’s wearing barong. 😉
interesting music collection and station..nice entrance, and building. astig,, modern na modern.
haha! ngayon ko lang po nalaman! ^^
wow.. nice library .. airconditioned..
sana sa UPLB maging ganun din.. hahaha.. i wish.. hehe.. another thing that made that library cool is that it has a TOWER.. really nice..
ma’am fieldtrip tayo dun! hehe.. ge na po.. hehe..
i think that with our Library Research Paper that would really be helpful nga pala..
may music station dun? wahaha.. that is really wicked for a library.. hehe.. i really must see this library.. 🙂
Field trip was actually my classmate’s advice.
I told her Im handling three sections of English 2 with 30+ students each, so that could be a tough task for me bringing a bunch of studes there. But she insisted. She said she’ll send me a list of other libraries that are worth a visit.
In other words, Ill think about that, claire. 🙂
ayoko po talaga ng libraries e…id rather go to bookstores…but this library really deserves recognition…
nung binabasa ko po ung article nyo, di na po ko masyado natuwa dun sa lib…mas naging interested po ako dun s story ng pagkakapunta nyo dun at dire-diretsong pagpasok…haha…nadistract n po ako nun e…nakakatuwa… 😛
..,ma’am nice place 4 a library. i hope we could go there. it’s very filipino-esque. even the guards wear jusi fabric. hehe,..
ma
hahaha..funny..
wow! sana maisipan din ni chanci na lagyan ng air con yung library. sauna bath satin sa elbi..and one of the main reasons why students do not go there is the poor ventilation.hehehe.
at sana may mga friendly din na librarians..hahaha..peace!!
cool library, hehe, thumbs up!
if only we can do our LRP there, parang andito na lahat.. 😀
i wanna see that library too 🙂
pretty cool eh.. guess i’m not gonna be bored when i read books there.. haha.. hope so.. anyway, i’m just curious if there are lots of books there? it just seems so small?? i dunno.. never been there yet.. i agree with the fieldtrip.. 🙂
it’s just in front of manila pen in ayala, people. 🙂
haha, just go there, kate 😀
yung palanca library, napuntahan ko nung 2nd year h.s ako, although napakalinis at ayos na ayos ang facility, wala namang katao tao…
nagpupunta po kasi ako ng ayala… pano po ako mkakapunta dyan? san po ba banda yan?
thanks.
..wow..nice..interesting place..kung para lang sa kin, masarap magbasa and mag-aral sa mga ganyang library..sana lang lahat ng libraries maging kasing cozy ng lib na yan..sana makapunta ako jan some time..field trip po tayu jan mam!!..haha..
The library is awesome… Di lang sya basta basta lib… It bears history in it…
sana makapunta din minsan… MAm field trip tayo dyan at para mkapagresearch din for our LRP doon.
the library looks wonderful. i hope i can go there!so nice it has music station. fieldtrip would be nice ma’am!hehe.:D
field trip!!! it’s a very nice library specially for those who love history. hehe. ganda pa ng mga sections. lalo na ung music station.
cool.. first part pa lng how ma’am went straight ahead papasok ng lib e interesting na. hehe.. i agree, we should have a field trip there. plss.. neweiz, It’s an interesting place to visit and i think a lot of students would prefer to go to libraries like that compared to our own library in UPLB.. masarap tambayan! 😀
wow….ganda ng library…
kung ganyan lang sana ang main lib….
tsk…tskk….
sarap nman mag-aral sa library na ‘to!
I hope every library is like that of the Ayala’s because
many, especially students like me, are looking for that
‘uniqueness’, comfort, etc. . .
and the typical, old and dusty building of books wont
work on us. (unless we are required to… like when we
have to do our LRP, hIhi)
Sana makapunta ko dyan, one day. . , and of course
other libraries which are worth seeing.
waaw man… grabeng library yun astig… akala ko pa naman puro katawa-tawa (o kaawa-awa) ang mga lib dito sa Pinas…
That’s an interesting library…I wish i could go there too (sigh). The unique features like the music collection and the Rizaliana fascinate me. I like old documents that remind me of our history. I really wish i could go there!!!!!! >_<
Ma’am I’m so amazed with that Ayala library. Kahit na hindi ko alam kung saan po yan,hehehe… eh I’m sure that it’s very different and unique… Sa history pa lang ng mismong library eh cool na, lalo na po siguro yung nasa loob nito… I can say that it’s quite similar with my dream library kung saan maiingganyo ang marami na mag aral at magbasa… Sana nga po makapag field trip tayo dun.
astig!!!!!!!! how cool! ayala lib! hehe
(pretending i know where it is)
sayang closed…it must be jaw-dropping inside.,.,.”,
sana ganito din library sa UPLB…
mam. it is very nice library. [; i wish i could go there to explore . hehe. sna magfieldtrip para sa LRP. and i think if our library would be as cozy as like that, hindi na ako aantukin sa pagbabasa. hehe. =)
hi ma’am!
ang ganda nman poh nung library na un..
parang pag nandun ka, mas nakaka-enganyo magbasa ng mga books at ang sarap tumambay..^_^
ano poh itsura nung tower?haha?
wow ma’am. awesome place. ma’am pupunta po ba tayo dito? na-curious po kasi ako d’un sa Rizaliana. kasi po sa HIST 1 po namin eh kinikritiko ang ating pambansang bayani. titignan ko po ‘yung mga stuff ni Gat. Jose Rizal. hehehe. field trip! field trip! field trip! 😀
The tower has become a small carpeted, air-conditioned session hall with a long table, synthetic chairs, and a view of Makati skyscrapers seen from the surrounding glass windows. It’s connected to the Reading Room thru a spiral staircase.
whoooahhh… I think everyone there won’t find books as boredom boosting!!! cool!!! If only the UP lib is this great, I’ll visit it everyday…..
..impressive ung lib ah, very posh ^_^.. kya lang mukha pang rich talaga!! nakaka curious pati ung sa basement.. hehe! sana gnito din lib sa elbi.. kainggit eh..^_^
eeehh…sosyalens ang lib na yun ah!
ganda ganda!!!! hahaha…
mukhang masayang magbasa dun ng mga history books ih..
gusto ko yun.. gusto ko makita ung mga antiques..hahaha
makapunta nga(???)
very very nice..^_^
Wow! astig naman nung library at nung guard nakabarong pa; Sana maging ganyan din yung library natin…
the library has nice facilities.
It’s good that books are still being preserved.
Ok lang naman yung simpleng library pero mas ok kung maayos rin yung mismong building and area.
nice… 🙂
Woah, it’s a new site for me!! hahaha..Amzing!!hahaha…I used to have one also in blogspot…I’m just not sure if it still exists..hahahaha… Anyways, about the library… It’s always good to know that we still have a library that looks fantastic. Though most do not even visit a library at all. I think that if most libraries would look like this one, students and majority of us would be encouraged to visit and actually read a book inside. Come to think of it, maybe, all we really need is to have more libraries that catch our eyes (in a good way)… Read more »
This is one of the reasons why I fervently dream of becoming filthy rich someday…to build a sanctuary for bibliophiles. I shall turn it into a bomb shelter! Completely stocked with food, oxygen and internet-capable computers! (and coffee for those who have included caffeine as a component of their blood) It shall be a haven for geeks like me! *applause* Now…I wonder…if we have libraries dedicated to the national hero, I was sort of hoping there would be too for the other heroes of the Revolution. It would really be enlightening if the youth knew more about them than the… Read more »
wow, sosyal ang ayala lib. =)
sana makapunta tayo jan maam, para di lang tayo sa main lib (uplb). =)
galing, may tower pa.
ang ganda naman po ng lib. na yan!!!ang sosyal, maganda pong magbasa sa ganyang lugar.sana makapunta ako sa library na yan balang araw
Watch out for my posts about other libraries. When I went to QC library it was closed because of the City Hall’s christmas party. Talk about perfect wrong timing.
wow… i’d like to see that library, too… if i get the chance …(this is one vote for the field trip! :)).. if the library here in elbi is like this one, i’d go there everyday… 😉
sosyal ang lib na yun. 🙂
sosyal ang maraming gusali sa Ayala (kahit di ako ganoon kafamiliar sa itsura ng lugar at kung anu-ano pa ang meron doon..) hehe.
mas masaya kung pati ang lib ng UPLB eh medyo ipapattern sa Ayala lib.. 🙂
masarap mag-aral.
ang ganda naman dyan. air-conditioned tapos may music station pa. 🙂 sana makapunta ako dyan.
samantalang sa main lib ang init. hehe.
sana naman gawin din nila yan dun sa main lib para ganahan namang mag-aral yung mga estudyante.
wew that library is so cool.
really suitable for filipinos as it
has many rizal books ^_^
Hi Ai! Thanks for featuring our library. Public elementary schools in Makati regularly have a field trip here. But I think it’s quite small if you’re bringing more than 30 grown-ups. 🙂 Hindi sapat ang simpleng field trip, kulang ang space & oras. Mas masayang mag-aral dito, o tingnan ang aming Retrato photo collection, o makinig sa music station–ng Filipiniana music, siyempre, mula sa mga oldies hanggang sa mga kakontemporanyo ni Regine Velasquez. We’re a special library, ibig sabihin, nakatuon kami sa Filipiniana materials. Remember, I got the rare Rizal paper for our class from here! Marami ring events, tulad… Read more »
sayang… kung ganyan ang library namin noon, naging honor sana ako… XD ang ganda eh…