Richmond's Filipiniana A Big Hit with Community

Thanks to the hard work andgenerosity of the FilipinoScotiabankers and Scotiabank,the Richmond Public Library (RPL)now has one of the best Filipinianacollections in BC. Based at theBrighouse (Main) library on MinoruBoulevard, the growing collectionnow has over 1,600 items for adultsand children, including fction andnon-fction books, DVDS, and CDmusic available for borrowing.

“It all started a couple of yearsago when the Scotiabankers ofMetro Vancouver a pproached thelibrary and proposed a campaign toestablish a Filipiniana collection,”said Wendy Jang, multilingualservices coordinator at RPL. “Their idea was to solicit donations for RPLfrom the community. Scotiabankthen agreed to match what theyraised dollar for dollar.”

Jang said the campaign raised$6,100 which, with the matchingfunds from Scotiabank came upto $12,200. The library has usedthe amount to purchase books,DVDs and music CDs about Filipinoculture and history written in Englishand the Filipino national language. Dulce Cuenca, a Board memberat RPL, has been instrumentalin establishing the Filipinianacollection. She has also started aFilipino Book Review Club wherereviewers will be lent books fromthe collection so they can writereviews that would be publishedin the community newspaper, Philippine Asian News Today. Dulce is currently looking for volunteerreviewers and people interested injoining the Book Review Club cancontact her at: dulceambacuenca@gmail.com.

Other organizations in GreaterVancouver are supporting the RPLFilipiniana collection. At a recentBoard meeting, the RPL Boardwas presented with a generous$3,070 cheque from the AteneoAlumni Associationand Scotiabank,in support of thecollection. As in thecase of Scotiabankers,the Ateneo AlumniAssociation’s donationwas matched by fundingfrom Scotiabank.The donation will gotowards the purchaseof more books, DVDsand CDs for theFilipiniana collection.

The RPL is gratefulfor the interest and generosity ofthe Filipino community that makesthe Filipiniana collection possible.“It’s great to have this Filipinianacollection,” says Wendy Jang.“There’s defnitely a heightenedawareness of the library by thelocal Filipino community, and wehope that people will learn moreabout Filipino culture and historyas a result of the collection,” Jangadded.

For more information on theRPL Filipiniana collection, contact: Wendy Jang, Coordinator ofMultilingual Services (Phone: 604-231-6419, Email: wendy.jang@yourlibrary.ca)