I have attended enough UP pep rallies and other UP events to notice that not all of us sing UP Naming Mahal the same way.  

  When I was a freshie, our block handler told us that the right way to sing it was to raise your LEFT fist in the air, and strongly pump your fist only at Mabuhay ang pag-asa ng bayan, mabuhay ang pag-asa ng bayan.  Why the left? The explanation given was because the UP has always been left-leaning, and to signify our non-alignment with the establishment (*sigh* youthful petulance? idealism? -- that's another matter).  One professor (I forgot his name) said that the UP rally scene in the movie Dekada ’70 is not entirely correct because the rallyists lifted their right fists while singing the UP Anthem. You only pump your fist at the last two lines to drive home the pag-asa ng bayan point.  My high-school classmates who went to UPLB and my batch-mates at the Institute were also taught the same thing.

   But judging from the past UP events, it appears that there are no steadfast rules on how to sing UP Naming Mahal. Or perhaps, the symbolism that formerly accompanied the UP Naming Mahal are totally lost on the succeeding generations; if it’s so, then it is just sad.  Former UP tibaks still have a lot to teach us young ’uns.  But it could be that the  variations are as diverse as the members of the UP Community itself.  Whatever the case, I will continue to sing it the way I was taught, left fist in the air, conviction in my voice, especially in the part Mabuhay ang pag-asa ng bayan, Mabuhay ang pag-asa ng bayan!

So this is what we looked like in our college days, not too long ago. I wasn´t really a UPLISSA officer, but my friends were, and I would normally be seen hanging around where they were instead of being in any of the activities they were actually hosting. We've graduated already but through hell, high water, thick and thin (well, mostly thick -- and getting thicker...hahaha!) we're stuck together like gum on shoe. And I´m glad!!!

        Unlike my favorite Heroes character, Hiro Nakamura, my great responsibility doesn’t come with great power.  The only power that I have is my pagtataray whenever makulit students insist on photocopying visibly fragile rare books with brittle pages.  You see, books deteriorate at a certain rate, depending on their chemical make-up.  Books whose papers have high lignin content are acidic, causing the pages to brown and become brittle at a faster rate.  There really is no way to stop this.  What we can only do is to slow down this process by controlling the factors (environment, handling, storage, etc.) that contribute to their deterioration.  The heat generated by photocopying is harmful to the already brittle pages of a book, not to mention the stress on the spine when it is laid down on the scanning bed.  The best way to preserve these rare books is to create a service copy and place the original in (ideal) storage conditions, away from heat, light and pests.

This is my great responsibility.  I am in charge of an invaluable collection in the library where I work. I am confident that my experience and training have and will place me in good stead in the performance of my duty -- but still, being in the presence of such a collection sometimes puts me in awe.

I get a certain kind of high whenever I discover some old bits of news/trivia from the collections.  A couple of weeks ago as we were reorganizing the biography collection, I came upon an article about Gregoria de Jesus.  Apparently, the Lakambini of the Katipunan and the Great Plebeian were at odds with each other.  According to her, Apolinario Mabini was not a true hero and that “kumbaga sa handaan ay dumating sya ng luto na ang ulam at nasaing na ang kanin.”  I am not a historian, but whatever they may have to say about each other, it is up to history to judge. 

I also got hold of a scrapbook about the Philippine Librarians Association that was probably made after the war, but not later than 1950. In it, there were articles about the resurrection of PLAI after the war and their efforts at rebuilding.  In addition there are quite a number of photos of the officers of PLAI including Gabriel A. Bernardo.  To those who do not know him, he is considered as the Father of Philippine Librarianship and was instrumental in the (re)establishment of the National Library and the Main Library of UP.  There are also photos of a couple of gatherings of librarians inside bullet ridden buildings, probably in the old UP building in Padre Faura or in the old Senate Building in the same area.  Most of the time, we librarians take for granted the things that we have now.  It is those kinds of discoveries that make me grateful for men like GAB, and thankful that I do not have to suffer the war and its consequences like our forefathers did.

In a couple of the collections there are first-hands accounts of the horrors of war.  Such accounts are numerous in a lot of books, but reading some of them in actual handwritten notes gives me goose bumps and chills up my spine.  Some are very graphic, like those found in the People’s Court papers.  One judge said that to euphemize (or sugar-coat) the actions of the Japanese and their cohorts (like the Makapilis) will be to desecrate the honor of the people who gave up their lives for the liberty we cherish today. 

I may not have great power with my “great” responsibility, but the perks of my job like the discoveries and epiphanies are more than enough for me…

            …I certainly won’t mind a raise though.

Start:	May 27, '07
Location:	Aklatang Pambata, Quezon City

Plan, brainstorm and organize upcoming activities for the UPLSAA.

Start:	Apr 27, '07 6:00p
Location:	Balay Kalinaw, UP Diliman, Quezon City

THE UP Library Science Alumni Association will have its 57th Alumni Homecoming on 27 April, 5:30pm at the UP Balay Kalinaw, UP Diliman.

The theme Building a Home @ 57 is to celebrate the UP-SLIS' move to its new quarters soon.

visit http://www.uplsaa.org for more details or call the UP School of Library and Information Studies at (+632)9818500 loc. 2855.

Tickets are at P250 only, inclusive of dinner and raffle ticket (not including membership renewal -- waived if you have a lifetime membership card).