FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
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OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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First Regular Session 
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Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
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 
info~nration and leadership to school library media programs and personnel nationwide; (2) 
provide continued funding for public elementary, secondary, and tertiary school library media 
program iinprovenient, equity, innovation, and technological advancement; (3) establish a 
partnership program for elementary, secondary, and krtiary 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.* 
* This bill was originally filcd during the Thirteenth Congress, First Regular Session. 


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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
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OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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First Regular Session 
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Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
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. Dejnition 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; 
“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 perfom a service function for public elementary, secondary or 
tertiary school in a province, city or municipality; 
‘T.Jationa1 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 o€ Elementary Education; 
(B) 
(C) 


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(F) “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 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 sltills in other languages; and 
(2) 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 
SECTION 5. Elementary, Secondary and Tertiary School Library Media Program.- 
(A) Establishment of the Elementary, Secondary, and Tertiavy 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. 
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(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 
(b) Administration of the provincial plan, including development and 
revision of standards relating to school library media resources, except 
that the amount used for administratioil 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 
(c) Set forth criteria to be used in allotting funds for school library media 
resources among the local educational agencies or the province, which 
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 
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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. 
(2) Calculation of Enuollment. - 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. 
SECTION 6. Establishment of the School Libravy Media Specialist and Teacher 
Partnershipsfor Instructional Innovation Puogram. - 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 
Expand student’s information-gathering abilities and cognitive skills of selection, 
analysis, evaluation and application. 
(B) 
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. 
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SECTION 8. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Secretary shall 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 or 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 shall be used so as to 
suppleinent 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. 
LL 
Approved, 
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