Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 9246)
The short title is "The Philippine Librarianship Act of 2003."
The State recognizes librarianship as essential for developing intellectual capacity, promoting honest and credible licensure exams, and nurturing professional growth and well-being of competent librarians with excellence and global competitiveness.
The main objectives include national licensure examination and registration of librarians, supervision and regulation of librarianship practice, integration of librarians under a national organization, and development of professional competence.
A librarian is an individual who holds a bona fide Certificate of Registration and Professional Identification Card issued by the Professional Regulatory Board for Librarians and the Professional Regulation Commission.
Functions include selection and acquisition of resources, cataloguing and classification, development of computer-assisted systems, library system establishment, information dissemination, teaching librarianship subjects, technical services like abstracting and indexing, consultancy, and conservation of historical and cultural documents.
The Board consists of a Chairperson and two members appointed by the President from a list of nominees submitted by the accredited national professional organization of librarians, under the supervision of the Professional Regulation Commission.
They must be natural-born Filipino citizens and residents, have good moral character, be practicing librarians for at least 10 years with 5 years in managerial positions, must not be faculty or have pecuniary interest in librarian schools, and not be officers of the national librarians’ organization.
Grounds include neglect of duty, incompetence, unethical or immoral conduct, violations of the Act or Codes, examination irregularities such as cheating or manipulation, and criminal offenses involving moral turpitude.
Applicants must be in good health and moral character, and graduates of a Bachelor's degree in Library Science or Information Science. Holders of certain master's degrees or related degrees are also eligible under specified conditions.
Candidates must obtain a weighted general average of 75% with no grade lower than 50% in any subject to pass.
Applicants registered under Republic Act No. 6966 as of the effectivity date who meet educational and professional experience criteria described in Section 19 can be registered without examination within three years of the Act’s effectivity.
Persons practicing without valid registration or violating provisions of the Act face fines from P30,000 to P100,000 or imprisonment from 1 month to 3 years, at the court's discretion.
Only qualified and licensed librarians may be employed in government libraries, with local government units given three years from the Act's approval to comply.
The Board can issue, suspend, revoke, or cancel certificates or temporary permits for librarians, including handling administrative and disciplinary cases relating to violations of the Act or ethical standards.
All registered librarians must be integrated under a single accredited and recognized national organization and must pay the required fees and dues to enjoy benefits, though they may also join other associations.