Friends and fans of all things French gathered at the Denver Central Library February 21 to admire the exhibit – En Face, L’Amerique – featuring photographs and artifacts from Denver’s Sister City, Brest, France.

The exhibit highlights photos which show the consequences of war — Brest was largely destroyed in World War II — as well photos that show the resurgence of this Naval city located in Northwestern France. Modern photos feature the Brest American Football Team posing in landmarks around the city.   

Brest became Denver’s Sister City in 1948 after local schoolchildren raised thousands of dollars to help rebuild the city. A donation of books helped rebuild the war-ravaged town’s library. 

One young girl who donated a book was Denver native and local author Marne Davis Kellogg.  Marne attended the reception at the Library and mingled with other guests who marveled at the exhibit and sampled French and American appetizers including pastries and crudité.  

Brest is Denver’s first official Sister City and was only the second established in the U.S. 

En Face, L’Amerique: City of Brest, France is on display through April 27, Western History/Genealogy, Level Five, Denver Central Library.

Submitted by Dianne Lapierre, Director

Community Relations

Friends Foundation

Denver Public Library

A very early morning.  Lily picked me up at 5:30am for a 9am flight.  Traffic not quite as bad at that time of the day.   At the airport, Lily hands me off to staff at the National Libraries of the Philippines (NLP).   About 15 NLP staff are already there.   Much photo-taking ensued.  

It only took at hour to get from Manila to Cebu City and then to the Elizabeth Hotel, the conference site.

I had a chance today to have some really good conversations with a number of librarians.  I probably should say that I took notes and have tried to be accurate about names and titles, and details about libraries.   If I get it wrong, please let me know.

I had an opportunity to talk to Dolores (Dolly) Carungui,  Chief of the NLP Reference Division which includes services to special populations such as blind and print handicapped, children’s services, and international cooperation and Nona Yauder, Director of Public Library Services which is very similar to a US state library agency library development unit.   Overall, the services of NLP are very similar to those of most state libraries in the United States – consulting, training, networking, services to special groups such as blind and print handicapped, a reference collection  — and most important leadership for local libraries and advocacy with government agencies and officials.   Nona said that there are 89 provinces (similar to US states) in the Philippines but only 59 have libraries.  One of NLPs tasks is to convince municipal officials to establish a library.  Their law 7743, passed in 1994, provides for the establishment of libraries but has never been funded.

On the bus to the hotel, Dolly asked me what I wanted to do in the afternoon.  I asked her if she didn’t have something better to do than spend the afternoon with me she said NLP Director Tony Santos had told her that her job was to take care of me – and she did.   She was my “go to” person for every aspect of my trip.   The Filipinos are a model for good hospitality.  So we went shopping to purchase interesting jewelry.

Dinner was 30 librarians descending on an unsuspecting restaurant which actually accommodated us fairly easily.   I asked for fried fish but ended up with a baked milkfish with a superb tangy vegetable sauce; a fried fish plate with about four kinds of fish and enough to serve about four people; AND a whole, stuffed squid

Over dinner, I had a chance to talk with Ruth Chua, Director of the Cebu City Public Library.   She has seven staff and she is the only professional.   Ruth has a Family Literacy Program that is reaching 25 low income families.  For three months they meet with the mothers and children once a week, teach the mothers how to read to their children, and help them select and check out books.   After three months, the parents did not want to stop so next time they will have the program for five months.   They are doing this on their own with volunteers – no special grants

I also had a discussion with Nona about a curious aspect of Philippine library law.    She had asked me earlier if librarians were responsible for the books in the library.   I said, yes, they are, thinking in general terms.  Well it turns this has a more literal meaning in the Philippines.  The librarian is personally responsible – as in they take the cost of the book out of the librarian’s salary.  With that fiscal consequence, I asked why any librarian would ever lend any book.   The answer – well some don’t and expensive books are held in locked cases.

Today’s cultural observation.  Filipinos are very polite, respectful, yet informal.   People are called by their first name.   I’m Miss Nancy or just mam, pronounced as if it were “Mahm.”   It makes it easy for me.   In Bulgaria where I often visit and teach, it is polite to address everyone by their last name and their long, multi-syllable names defeat me.   I’m always afraid I’m offending them when I default to the first name.   Here, it is relief to be able to be polite with a Miss Dolly or Miss Nona or Miss Ruth.

Tomorrow the conference actually starts.

Monday, March 17

People in the Philippines don’t seem to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and I forgot to wear green.

Lily picked me up at my hotel at 8:30am and we headed to a big shopping area where local crafts are sold.  We had a new driver who I called Fearless Fred because of his ability to drive in Manila traffic.   I suppose there are lanes to drive in but most of the drivers tend to treat them as fantasy.   This is, hands down, the worst traffic I have ever seen.  There are few stop signs or stop lights or even police directing traffic.   Picture two (or three or four) lanes of traffic, in both directions with people trying to get through or turn left or right with no stop lights or signs to give permission to move.   People just stick the nose of the car out into traffic, slowly, and keep moving forward, til the cars coming at a right angle give way.  Fred negotiated this beautifully but at times I was terrified.   I used a technique I learned in Sofia, Bulgaria traffic  — brace myself, close my eyes, and repeat that mantra “don’t look, don’t look.”

As many of you know, I import international jewelry and sell it with part of the proceeds going to international library projects.  So shopping in Manila had a beneficial benefit as well as being fun.  We went to the Green Hills Shopping Center where, in additional to stores you can see any mall in North America, there was a bazaar in the basement with people, mainly Muslim women, selling from small booths.   All the booths were organized by category, purses, clothing, etc.  – and my target, jewelry.   Pearls seem to be the specialty and many of the sellers have exactly the same product.   I tried, as always, to find something unique and I think I did.  Those of you who shop at craft fairs I go to can judge for yourself.

We went from there to the University of the Philippines, a huge campus.  Lily is Director of the Law Library so we went there first.  There are, I think she said 20 University schools and each has its own library, in addition to the Main University Library.   When Lily took over, she raised funds from previous graduating classes to renovate many areas of the library.  There are four floors and no elevator so staff and students stay thin going up and down the steps every day.

I had books and another Native American rattle to present to the Director of the University Libraries, Rodolpho Tarlit.  When we tried to see him we learned that he was in an all-day staff development meeting to celebrate the 92^nd birthday of the library.   We were invited down to the meeting in time to hear the end of a presentation honoring a previous library director.   The presenter spoke mainly in English but as soon as she was telling the punch line of a story about the previous director, she switched to Tagalog.   I later asked Lily why and she said it just sounds better in Tagalog.

On to the Engineering Library which has a HUGE, colorful “I (heart) MY LIBRARY” and a lovely slogan “A University is a group of buildings surrounding a library, and without a great library you don’t have a great university.”

From there on to the Quezon City Public Library.  The library is on one floor and was very busy.  There is an “American Shelf” provided by the US Embassy and a shelf with materials and caregivers who deal with the people with disabilities.   They want to expand this to include materials FOR people with disabilities.   Two staff are learning a little sign language to make those with hearing impairment feel more at home.

I had a lovely conversation with the library staff who want to come to the US for an ALA convention who wanted tips on how to get a visa from the US consulate.   Our country is suspicious, rightly so to a large extent after 2001, but sometimes they seem to go overboard, assuming everyone who visits the US either wants to blow us up or stay forever.   I’m not sure our consulates understand that some people just want to come and enjoy and then go back to the country they love and share information they received.   Unfortunately, I’m not in much of a position to help them.

After my huge breakfast and similar lunch, I had no desire for dinner and still feeling jet lagged, I called it a day and let Lily and the driver head back to campus.   To bed even earlier because Lily is picking me up at 5:30am for the next leg of my Philippine adventure.

A word about food.   I eat mainly vegetarian with some fish – luckily so.  Vegetarians would have a great deal of difficulty getting  food here and vegans would starve.  These people are carnivores.  Almost every dish has some kind of meat in it.  Fresh, uncooked vegetables are rare.   Some buffets have salads but many just have many kinds of meat dishes.   I am loving the fish but missing the fresh salads.

Off to Cebu City and the National Library’s conference tomorrow.

Sunday, March 16 – Manila and the Philippine Library Association

I had coffee this morning with Lydia Robledo, who I met through a circuitous route.   When I knew I was coming to the Philippines, I sent a message to our Colorado Library Listserv and asked if anyone had been to the Philippines and could help me plan the trip.  Caro Hedge, a retired librarian’ referred me to her minister, Ramon Robledo, who referred me to his wife, Liwliwa Robledo, who referred me to her sister, Lydia Robledo, who OWNS A TRAVEL AGENCY in Manila.  Can you believe it?

Lydia helped me plan part of the trip and she joined Lily and me for coffee over breakfast this morning.  I am being treated exceedingly well.  Lydia planned a side trip later in my time her and Lily said she had also arranged a similar one.  I’m just sitting back and doing what I’m told.

By the way, breakfast was amazing and free with the room.  There were an omelet station and at least eight types of sweet rolls including the famous (or infamous if you consider the calories) cronuts.    There was food for every nationality.   I could have had pizza, spaghetti, miso soup, green salad, a cheese plate, yogurt, and more.

Lily seems to have remarkable talents as a negotiator.  She had managed to get through security the night before to meet me at the airline gate with a sign saying “Professor Nancy Bolt” (a nice promotion) and with a gentleman who took me directly to a special passport line and helped with luggage.   She arranged for a car from the University of the Philippines (UP) with a red license plate which, I would discover, get us to places most cars can’t go.

For example, this is Sunday and the National Library is closed with a padlocked gate and guards.  So Lily politely asks if we can go inside anyway.   The guard unlocked the gate and we drove in.  We really didn’t get past the first floor and what impressed me was that their vision, mission, and long term goals were blown up into about 8-foot panels on full display in the lobby.  I was particularly impressed with their mission statement:

The full intellectual and cultural development of the Filipino people through the love for reading books and the new forms of literary materials, the lessons and insights of which enable and empower them to adapt to rapid technological advances and the changes accompanying global trends, for application in their present lives and the lives of the next generations of the Filipinos.

On to lunch at a cultural center with representatives of the Philippine Librarians Association Inc. called PLAI (pronounced “ply” – it took me a while to figure what they were saying when the kept saying “ply.”)  Having lunch with us was Beth Peralajo, President of PLAI, Susan Pador, Treasurer of PLAI, and Emma Ray, Legislative Liaison for PLAI.   Beth and Susan work at Antenejo University in their elementary/secondary schools as school librarians and trainers.  Emma works for the House of Representatives in the Congress of the Philippines.

After the devastating and destructive earthquake the Philippines experienced last year, the American Library Association (ALA) raised $6000funds to benefit the restitution of Philippine libraries. Michael Dowling, Director of ALA’s International Relations Office had wired the funds to PLAI already and sent a replica of a check which PLAI had blown up quite large.  I presented the check to the four librarians along with a couple of books about the US and a Prayer Rattle from the US Native American culture.   You can see the photo with from left to right – Lily, Emma, Beth, me, and Susan.

The cultural program was quite nice and they convinced me to play a Philippine native instrument and dance a traditional dance where I managed not to fall or get my bare feet caught in the moving sticks.   After the lunch, Lily tried to take me shopping to buy jewelry I could bring back to the US and sell but I was so exhausted I could not even shop.   So we skipped dinner and I went back to the hotel.  I struggled to keep my eyes open until at least 9pm but gave in at 8:30 and went to bed.

A few cultural observations.  First, security is ever-present.  We did not go into any building, anywhere, without have ouu bags scanned for some contraband.   This included the hotel I’m staying, another historic hotel we visited, malls we shopped in, restaurants we visited —  every place.   I asked if there was a history of violence and Lily said sometimes.   I had not seen or heard of any incidences since I’ve been here and, frankly, the inspection seems a little cursory, but they do check.

Almost everybody speaks some level of English.  Wikipedia says there are over 120 languages spoken but that English and Tagalog, at least in Manila, seem the most prominent.  People I met easily went back and forth between the two languages, sometimes in the same sentence.

Lily lives on campus and has a house in her home town as well.   Her family house was destroyed by the earthquake.  As she told me this she laughed and I asked her how she could laugh after this happened.  She said the whole experience made her stronger and taught her to be more faithful to God.   The Philippine people, at least the ones I met seem to accept what life throws at them.  They are remarkably friendly, always smiling at me.   It’s a very pleasant placed to be.  EXCEPT FOR THE TRAFFIC.   More about that tomorrow.

Friday, March 15 Denver – Manila

Off to the Philippines. Left home at 3:30am to catch a 6am flight. Loyalty to United Airlines pays off again with a free upgrade from Denver to Chicago, and with award miles and a little extra money, I made it into business class for the 13 hour flight from Chicago to Tokyo. But excitement and internal clock kept me awake most of the time (over 50 movies to choose from; I watched 5). From Tokyo to Manila I didn’t want to sleep, hoping to get a good night’s sleep once there.

So, why am I going to Manila? I was very lucky to get appointed to an IFLA Committee. IFLA is the International Federation of Library Agencies (I know, it sounds like something out of a farce on bureaucracy). It’s an association of library associations from around the world. It focuses on discussion and education to improve library services in all countries to different populations and to address library issues (such as organization of information and copyright) through international discussion and decisions.

I got appointed to the IFLA Section on Library Service to People with Special needs such as people who are homeless, elderly in hospitals or nursing homes, people in prisons, are hearing impaired, or have dyslexia or other learning disabilities. Our Committee typically meets at the annual IFLA conference, this year in Lyon France, and has a spring business meeting, this year in Manila.

When the Philippine National Library heard about our visit, they organized a conference for Philippine public librarians on “The Role of Libraries in Serving Differently-abled Persons.” So I’m seeing the Philippines and speaking at the Conference and attending the meeting.

Lily Echiverri, Director of the Law Library at the University of Manila, met me at the airport, despite the late hour of 9:30 pm. She has a van and driver, Bloji, and took me to my hotel. My first impression is that Manila is very big, very crowded, with way too much traffic even late at night. The hotel, the Luxor, is new and booked full so all they had for me was a smoking room with a promise to move me tomorrow to a new room.

My first day ends.

Hello friends!

Nancy Bolt is on her way to the Philippines to visit libraries, make a presentation to the Philippine Library Association, and meet with an international committee she serves on, Library Services to People with Special needs. She will be putting a blog on the Facebook page of the International Library Cultural Exchange Interest Group and will be sharing the same information here, as well.  Stay tuned for updates about her adventures!