Policy and purpose for libraries
- A school library is declared essential to attaining education objectives by making instructional materials available and accessible to teachers and learners.
- The library’s main functions include developing positive reading/study habits and enabling efficient and effective use of materials as learning tools.
- A school library is established as a service center, reading center, guidance center, material production center, and teaching-learning center.
- The library is required to function as the center of the school, as an integral and indispensable part of it.
- National competitiveness is connected to the development of a well-informed citizenry, which the library supports through its information role.
Coverage: required functional libraries
- Each elementary and secondary school must have a functional library.
- Schools without libraries must establish them.
- Schools with libraries must improve them.
- Implementation is guided by Enclosure 1 for library development details.
Library materials and supplementary procurement
- School libraries must procure basic print supplementary materials in addition to adequate copies of textbooks and teachers’ manuals.
- Procurement of basic print supplementary materials must follow the Guidelines on Supplementary Materials Intended for Public Elementary and Secondary Schools.
- The procurement requirements are implemented based on Enclosure 2 for supplementary materials guidelines.
Monitoring, dissemination, and implementation duties
- Monitoring of school libraries must be done regularly by the DECS central office, regional offices, and/or school heads.
- Immediate dissemination of the contents of DECS Order No. 6 to all concerned is enjoined to ensure timely implementation.
Enclosure 1: functional library requirements
- A library is defined as an information center, audio visual center, and instructional material center whose functions include systematically collecting, classifying, storing, and retrieving information.
- A school library must assist in adapting information to suit intended use in teaching-learning.
- The library collection must conform to expressed and anticipated requirements of the teaching-learning process and the school’s special mission/goal.
- The collection must include materials with cultural and recreational values to stimulate teachers’ and pupils’ interests and develop reading and inquiry as natural habits of life.
- Reading is treated as an indispensable intellectual tool that helps children learn to read and comprehend.
Five components of a functional library
- A functional library is composed of five (5) components: (1) physical facilities, (2) librarian, (3) materials/collection, (4) library programs and services, and (5) budget funds.
Physical facilities standards
- The library must have a separate building or room properly constructed as a school library.
- The library room must be well-lighted, ventilated, free from noise, and centrally located for accessibility to teachers and pupils.
- The library must use a modified open-shelf system.
- The library must accommodate at least fifty (50) pupils for library lessons once a week.
- The room area for an enrollment of 500 is 72 sq. m., with an additional 1.2 sq. m. per place for 8% of enrolment in excess of 500.
- The preferred room layout is preferably rectangular, with 2/3 of the area for library users and 1/3 for the library collection.
Librarians and staff: staffing ratio, qualifications, duties
- Every complete elementary and secondary school must have teacher-librarians and a school librarian, with the number depending on enrollment.
- Staffing ratios are required as follows:
- For 500 or less enrollees: one teacher-librarian.
- For 501 to 1,000 enrollees: one full-time and one part-time teacher-librarian.
- For 1,001 to 2,000 enrollees: one full-time librarian and one part-time teacher-librarian.
- For 2,001 and above enrollees: an additional one full-time librarian for every 1,000 additional enrollees.
- Teacher-librarian qualification requirements are required as follows:
- Elementary: BSEEd or BEED major or minor in Library Science or with at least 15 units in Library Science, and 1 year experience with license.
- Secondary: BSE major or minor in Library Science or with at least 15 units in Library Science, and 1 year experience with license.
- A teacher-librarian in elementary is given an incentive: the teacher-librarian shall be one salary grade higher than other faculty members.
- Teaching load is required: a teacher-librarian shall have one teaching load, including library-related instruction structured as: Kinder to Grade IV for library orientation and literature appreciations, Grade V-VI for library lesson, and for high school for how to research.
- Librarian duties and responsibilities are required and include:
- Classifying/arranging and cataloguing all materials for easy retrieval.
- Recording all library collection and acquisitions.
- Prioritizing budgeting of library funds.
- Maintaining an updated inventory of library materials.
- Preparing, with a Library Committee of faculty members and librarians, a schedule of activities (orientation, lessons, viewing if AV is available, Book Week, Book Shower, Open House, etc.).
- Conducting orientation for teachers, school employees, and pupils/students at the opening of classes.
- Preparing lessons, projects, and programs and coordinating with English teachers for implementation.
- Submitting the list of materials for acquisition to the school head.
- Initiating the organization and acting as adviser of a Library Club.
- Assisting pupils/students and teachers in using library materials.
- Attending seminar-workshops and conferences for professional growth with school support.
- Maintaining statistical records of the library, including number of users and number of acquisitions.
- The librarian’s physical and equipment setting is supported by required listed items for library furnishings and tools, including reading table, armless chairs, charging desk/circulation, card catalogue cabinet, book shelves, dictionary and atlas stand, vertical file, magazine rack, storage cabinet, shelf list card cabinet, librarian’s table and chair, step stool, bulletin board, working table, index card tray, cutter, wall clock, and book truck, plus specified audiovisual and computing equipment such as typewriter, computer with printer, projector, T.V., radio, cassette, tape player, and video tape player.
Library programs and services requirements
- Library orientation during opening of classes is required.
- Library programs included in the curriculum are required once or twice a month through library lessons conducted by the librarian.
- National Book Week Celebration is required as a library program.
- The library includes provision for Xerox of needed materials if available.
- The library is required to serve as an information center for the school and the parents.
Collections: references, references per pupils, media, selection rules
- The library collection must include general references and subject-support materials.
- General reference quantities required include:
- Encyclopedia: 1 set (elementary) and 1 set (secondary).
- Dictionary: 1 English-Filipino and 1 Filipino-English.
- English (Unabridge) and 1 Dialect (Secondary) are required as general dictionary/reference items.
- Atlas: 2 (1 Philippine and 1 World).
- Almanac: 2 (1 Philippine and 1 World).
- Globe: 1.
- Maps: 3 (1 Philippine, 1 World, and 1 Asia).
- Additional elementary school books must include supplementary readers in English and Filipino for remediation, reinforcement, or enrichment.
- Additional secondary school books must include Books of Knowledge, Thesaurus, Philippine Yearbook, Book of Facts Handbooks, Manuals, Literary Classics, Book of Etiquette, World Record, and Fiction books.
- The general collection must include references to support subject areas, professional books for teachers and other employees, recreational hobby materials, and books generally.
- Reference for basic learning areas must be at least 4 for every 40 pupils.
- Magazines must be provided with required subscriptions:
- Elementary: (1) local or national and (1) foreign (depending on enrolment).
- Secondary: (3) local or national and (3) foreign (subscription numbers depend on enrolment).
- Newspapers must be provided with required subscriptions:
- Elementary: (1) local and (2) national.
- Secondary: (1) local and (2) national.
- Important projects of teachers and pupils/students must be stored in the library as reference materials.
- Librarian tools and supplies must include Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), Anglo American Cataloging Rules (AACR2), Sears List of Subject Headings, and ownership stamps and cards, plus office and AV supplies.
- Selection and acquisition of books and other library materials are required to be a cooperative endeavor among the librarian, faculty, and head of school, based on an approved list of textbooks, teachers’ manuals, and supplementary materials.
- Teachers may recommend books and instructional materials needed in the classroom, and such recommendations are incorporated into the selection/acquisition process.
Library budget funds
- Library funds must be 5-10% of the school funds, based proportionately on releases made by the Division Office.
- Donations and solicitations are permitted sources of library funds, including from civic associations, alumni, parents, other community members, friends of the library, and others.
Enclosure 2: supplementary materials approval rules
- Supplementary materials are defined as materials other than textbooks and teachers’ manuals that aid teaching and/or learning of concepts and skills for reinforcement, enrichment, and mastery.
- Supplementary materials are classified as either print or non-print materials.
- Print materials are defined as textual materials, published or unpublished, including general references and subject-area-specific reference materials aiding concepts and skills.
- Non-print materials are defined as supplementary materials other than print materials such as video tapes, audio-cassette tapes, films, transparencies, and multimedia learning packages.
- General references are defined to include encyclopedias, dictionaries, yearbooks, biographical dictionaries, bibliographies, geographical sources, atlases, almanacs, serials and periodicals, and directories.
- Subject area specific references are defined to include books on history, social sciences, skill books, workbooks, reviewers, and illustrations dealing with specific topics.
Responsible offices and evaluation decisions
- The DECS Instructional Materials Council (IMC) is responsible for approval of all instructional materials used in public schools.
- For print supplementary materials, the DECS Instructional Materials Council Secretariat (IMCS) must be responsible for content evaluation of all submitted materials, while evaluation of prices must be handled by a Price Committee under the Office of the Undersecretary for Administration and Finance.
- For non-profit supplementary materials, the DECS Center for Education and Technology (CET) must be responsible for both content and price evaluation of all submitted materials.
- The Instructional Materials Council makes the final decision on all evaluated materials among IMCS, Price Committee, and CET.
- Procedures for the Price Committee and CET in determining price ceilings of materials submitted for evaluation must be approved by the IMC.
Priority in procurement and repeal/modification
- Previously issued DECS orders or memoranda, or provisions thereof, that are contrary to or inconsistent with the supplementary materials guideline are repealed or modified accordingly.
- DECS-approved textbooks and teachers’ manuals must receive priority in procurement by DECS Regional and Division Offices.
- After providing textbooks and teachers’ manuals, basic supplementary materials indicated in Enclosure 1 must receive priority.
- Procurement of other supplementary materials must be made generally only after ensuring adequate textbooks and teachers’ manuals, and basic print supplementary materials have been provided to all public schools in the region and/or division.
- Concerned offices must exercise judicious care and diligence in procurement to maximize benefits for schoolchildren.
- Purchases must be based on specific requests from school principals and administrators and must provide a school-by-school analysis of supply and demand for the materials.
Authority, separability, repeals, and transitory effects
- Provisions that conflict with the supplementary materials guideline are repealed or modified accordingly.
- The Order enjoins immediate dissemination of its contents to all concerned to drive implementation through DECS central office, regional offices, and/or school heads.