Towards Compliance with the 2015 Revised Standards for Philippine Public Libraries

Abstract

The present study examines the Philippine Public Libraries' compliance with the 2015 revised standards. The study specifically attempted to answer the following questions: 1) What is the profile of the library administrators; 2) To what extent do the Philippine Public Libraries comply as planned in terms of the areas in the Standards for Philippine Public Libraries; 3) To what extent do the profiles of the administrators moderate compliance to the 2015 Revised Standards for Philippine Public Libraries; 4) To what extent do the planned library requirements affect compliance to the 2015 Revised Standards for Philippine Public Libraries; and 5) Based on the findings, what corrective action framework can be proposed?

The descriptive research design was utilized in the study. It has been preferred because it is impossible to observe all the characteristics and existing interactions in the present situations of public libraries. The respondents of the study were the head administrators/librarians of the city public libraries in the National Capital Region (NCR) of the Philippines.

A structured survey questionnaire and document analysis were used to gather data. The instrument design was based on the ideas reflected in the problem statement. The data were tallied, tabulated, and analyzed to answer the study's objectives. For the statistical treatment of the data, weighted mean, paired T-Test, and two-way Anova were utilized.

The study's findings are: 1) The planned library requirements extensively comply with the 2015 Revised Standards for Philippine Public Libraries. However, areas of concern that necessitate immediate corrective action have been identified; 2) The demographic profiles of respondents, such as age, educational qualification, and continuing professional education, have no significant moderating effects on compliance with the 2015 Revised Standards for Philippine Public Libraries; 3) The planned library requirements have no significant effects on compliance with the 2015 Revised Standards for Philippine Public Libraries; and 4) The proposed corrective action framework has identified the priority areas for improvement to achieve compliance with the 2015 Revised Standards for Philippine Public Libraries.

Based on the findings, the following conclusions are drawn: 1) The respondents' compliance to the standards is to a great extent except on some aspects of the Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives (MVGO), Services and Utilization, Physical Facilities, and Financial Resources, which requires immediate corrective action; 2) The proposed Corrective Action Framework, which identifies the priority areas for improvement in the 2015 Revised Standards for Philippine Public Libraries, will aid in the possibility of revising the current standard or developing an accreditation program.

It is recommended that the National Library of the Philippines, through its Public Libraries Division, should consider developing an accreditation program to support and strengthen the current Revised Standards for Philippine Public Libraries; 2) That the National Committee on Standards Revisions and Accreditation Scheme for Philippine Public Libraries, in collaboration with the Association of Librarians in the Public Sector (ALPS), should consider revisiting, updating, or revising the current Standards for Philippine Public Libraries; 3) That the Public Librarians should maintain constant contact with NLP and its local governments to ensure compliance with the Standards for Philippine Public Libraries; 4) That the Local Government Units (LGUs) should support their public libraries and collaborate with the NLP as a partner in the development of their public libraries and librarians.; 5) The researcher should consider conducting additional or more in-depth studies on the topics not covered in this study as a follow-up.