Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Queson City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 8369

Introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.

AN ACT
TO PROVIDE FOR ELEMENTARY, SECONDARY, AND TERTIARY SCHOOL
LIBRARY MEDIA RESOURCES, TECHNOLOGY ENHANCEMENT, TRAINING, AND
IMPROVEMENT

The Constitution, Article XIV, Section 1, provides that the state shall protect and promote
the right of all the citizens to quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate
steps to make such education accessible to all.

In order to prepare our nation's youth for the challenges of the future, as well as to keep
our nation competitive in a global economy, every elementary, secondary, and tertiary
school in the Philippines should be equipped with the best and most up-to-date library
resources, certified library media specialists, access to advanced technology, and
instruction on the use of library and information resources.

To comply with the constitutional mandate and to meet the challenges in education, this
bill proposes to: (1) establish, within each of the Bureaus of Elementary Education,
Secondary Education and Higher Education, a Division of School Library Media Services,
that will provide information and leadership to school library media programs and
personnel nationwide; (2) provide continued funding for public elementary, secondary,
and tertiary school library media program improvement, equity, innovation, and
technological advancement; (3) establish a partnership program for elementary,
secondary, and tertiary school teachers and school library media specialists, who will
jointly design resource and curriculum-based instructional activities that provide
opportunities for students to access a broad diversity of resources and information, and
other languages and cultures, including materials that will encourage understanding; and
(4) establish a partnership program for encouraging uses of technology and the sharing
of information and access to resources by elementary and secondary school students,
school library media specialist, and teachers.
al

LUIS RAY! “LRAY’/F, VILLAFUERTE, JR.


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 2363

Introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.

AN ACT
TO PROVIDE FOR ELEMENTARY, SECONDARY, AND TERTIARY SCHOOL
LIBRARY MEDIA RESOURCES, TECHNOLOGY ENHANCEMENT, TRAINING, AND
IMPROVEMENT

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Elementary, Secondary, and
Tertiary School Library Media Services Act.”

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is a policy of the State to protect and promote the
right of all citizens to quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to
make such education accessible to all.

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. As used in this Act, the term:

(A) “Director” means the Director of the Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Tertiary
School Library Media Services established under this Act;

(B) “Local Educational Agency” refers to a public board of education or other public

authority legally constituted within a state for either administrative control or

direction of, or to perform a service function for public elementary, secondary or

tertiary school in a province, city or municipality;

“National Educational Agency’ refers to the officer or agency primarily responsible

for the national supervision of public elementary, secondary, and tertiary schools;

(D) “Secretary” refers to the Secretary of Education;

(E) “Division of Secondary School Library Media Services” refers to the Division

established for the purposes of this Act under the Bureau of Elementary Education;

“Division of Secondary School Library Media Services” refers to the Division

established for the purposes of this Act under the Bureau of Secondary Education;

and

(G) “Division of Tertiary School Library Media Services” refers to the Division established

(C)

F)


for the purposes of this Act under the Bureau of Higher Education.

SECTION 4. Establishment and Functions of the Division of Elementary, Secondary, and
Tertiary School Library Media Services.

(A) Division. — There is established within each of the Bureaus of Elementary Education,
Secondary Education, and Higher Education, a Division of School Library Media
Services, to be administered by a Director of such Division.

(B) Functions. — The Division of School Library Media Services shall —

(1) Provide information and leadership to elementary, secondary, and tertiary
school library media specialists, teachers, and school administrators in order to
encourage improvement of educational programs, train library personnel, use
advanced technology, and develop library resources, including resources that
will encourage students to acquire skills in other languages; and
Monitor and administer the grant programs for elementary, secondary, and
tertiary school library media center resource development; elementary,
secondary, and tertiary school library media specialist and teacher partnership
grants for innovative education; and grants for uses of technology in the
classroom that are linked to the library media center

2

SECTION 5. Elementary, Secondary and Tertiary School Library Media Program.—
(A) Establishment of the Elementary, Secondary, and Tertiary School Library Media
Resource Development Program. — The Director shall award grants from all allocations
to provinces for the acquisition of school library media resources for the use of students,
library media specialists and teachers in public elementary, secondary and tertiary
schools.
(B) Allocation to Provinces. - From the amount appropriated in each fiscal year, the
Director shall allocate to each province having an approved plan an amount which bears
the same relationships to such funds as the amount such province received for
educational purposes.
(C) Provincial Plans. — In order for a province to receive an allocation of funds under
paragraph (B) for any fiscal year such province shall have in effect for such fiscal year a
provincial plan. Such plan shall —
(1) Designate the national educational agency as the agency responsible for the
administration and supervision of the program described in this section; and
(2) Set forth a program under which funds paid to the province from its allocation
under paragraph (B) will be expended solely for -

(a) Acquisition of school library media resources, including foreign language
resources, for the use of students, school library media specialists and
teachers in elementary, secondary and tertiary schools; and
Administration of the provincial plan, including development and revision of
standards relating to school library media resources, except that the
amount used for administration of the provincial plan in any fiscal year shall
not exceed five per centum (5%) of the amount allocated to such province
under paragraph (B) for such fiscal year; and
Set forth criteria to be used in allotting funds for school library media
resources among the local educational agencies of the province, which

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allotment shall take into consideration the relative need of the students,
school media specialists and teachers to be served.
(D) Distribution of Allocation to Local Educational Agencies. —

(1) Distribution Rule. — From the funds allocated to a province under paragraph (B)
in each fiscal year, such province shall distribute not less than ninety five per
centum (95%) of such funds in such fiscal year to local educational agencies
within such province according to the relative enrollment of students in public
elementary, secondary and tertiary schools within the school districts of such
province, adjusted to provide higher per-pupil allotments to local educational
agencies that have the greatest number or percentages of students whose
education imposes a higher than average costs per child, such as those
students —

(a) Living in areas with high concentrations of low-income families;

(b) From low-income families; and

(c)_ Living in sparsely populated areas.

Calculation of Enrollment. —- The calculation of relative enrollments under
subparagraph (1) shall be made on the basis of the total number of students
enrolled in public schools in the province.

(2

SECTION 6. Establishment of the School Library Media Specialist and Teacher
Partnerships for Instructional Innovation Program. — The Director shall award grants to
projects that -

(A) Encourage collaboration between public elementary, secondary, and tertiary school
library media specialists and teachers in order to develop units of instruction that
enable elementary, secondary and tertiary school students to use a variety of
information resources; and

(8) Expand student's information-gathering abilities and cognitive skills of selection,
analysis, evaluation and application.

SECTION 7. Establishment of the Use of Technology in the Classroom Program. —

(A) In General. — The Director shall award grants to encourage collaborative elementary,
secondary and tertiary school library media specialist and teacher program assigned to -
(1) Expand the use of computers and computer networks in the curriculum; and

(2) Enable elementary and secondary school library media centers to access
information from computerized databases.
(B) Operative Agreements. -The Director may enter into a cooperative agreements with
appropriate non-profit agencies and organizations in carrying out this Section,

SECTION 8. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Secretary shalll promulgate the
necessary rules and regulations to assure the smooth and efficient implementation of the
provisions of this Act.

SECTION 9. Construction. — Nothing in this Act shall be construed to interfere with State
and local initiative and responsibility in the conduct and support of school library media
services, the administration of school library media centers, or the selection of personnel
or library books and materials.


SECTION 10. Supplementation. — Funds provided under this Act shalll be used so as to
supplement and not supplant other national or local funds available to carry out the
activities and services assisted under this Act.

SECTION 11. Appropriations. ~ To carry out the provisions of this Act, such sum as may
be necessary is hereby authorized to be appropriated from the National Treasury.
Thereafter, the sum necessary for the continuous operation of the program shall be
included in the annual appropriation of the Department of Education,

SECTION 12. Separability Clause. — If any provision, or part hereof, is held invalid or
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision shall remain valid and
subsisting.

SECTION 13. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive
order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to or
inconsistent with, the provision of this Act Is hereby repealed, modified or amended
accordingly.

SECTION 14, Effectivity Clause. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in at least two (2) newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,