FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
SENATE 
Senate Bill No. gsz 
INTRODUCED BY HON. MANNY VILLAR 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Constitution, Article 14, Section 1, provides that the State shall 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. 
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: ('I) 
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 
swill 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 
specialists, and teachers. 
MANNYVI LAR i 


FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
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8 RV 
SENATE 
Senate Bill No. 962 
INTRODUCED BY HON. MANNY VILLAR 
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR ELEMENTARY, SECONDARY, AND TERTIARY 
SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA RESOURCES, TECHNOLOGY ENRICHMENT, TRAINING 
AND DEVELOPMENT 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representative 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: 
(I) 
"Director" means the Director of the Division of Elementary, Secondary and 
Tertiary School Library Media Service established under this Act; 
(2) "Local Educational Agency" refers to a public board of educatjon 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; 
(3) "National Educational Agency" refers to the officer or agency primarily 
responsible for the national supervision of public elementary, secondary and tertiary 
schools; 
(4) "Secretary" refers to the Secretary of Education; 


(5) "Division of Elementary School Library Media Services" refers to the Division 
established for the purposes of this Act under the Bureau of Elementary Education; 
(6) "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 
(7) "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, 
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 -- 
(I) 
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, use advanced 
technology, and develop library resources that will encourage students to acquire skills 
in other languages: and 
(2) Monitor and administer -- 
(A) The grant programs for elementary, secondary and tertiary school library 
media center resource development: 
(B) Elementary, secondary and tertiary school library media specialist and 
teacher partnership grants for innovative education; and 
(C) Grants foe 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 TERTIARY 
SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM -- The Director 
shall award grants from allocations under subsection (b) to provinces for the acquisition 
of school library media resources for the use of student library media specialists, and 
teachers in public elementary, secondary and tertiary schools. 


(b) ALLOCATION TO PROVINCES - From the amount appropriated pursuant to 
the authority of subsection (e) in each fiscal year, the Director shall allocate to each 
province having an approved plan under subsection (c) an amount which bears the 
same relationship to such funds as the amount such province received for education 
purposes. 
(c) PROVINCIAL PLANS - In order for a province to receive an allocation of 
funds under subsection (b) for any fiscal year such province shall have in effect for such 
fiscal year a provincial plan. Such plan shall -- 
(I) 
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 subsection (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 specialist and teachers in 
elementary, secondary and tertiary school; 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 
administration of the provincial plan in any fiscal year shall not exceed 5 percent of the 
amount allocated to such province under subsection (b) for such fiscal year; and 
(3) Set forth the criteria to be used in allocating funds for school library media 
resources among the local educational agencies of the province, which allotment shall 
take into consideration the relative need of the students, school media specialist, and 
teachers to be served. 
(d) DISTRIBUTION OF ALLOCATION TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES -- 
(I) DISTRIBUTION RULE - From the funds allocated to a province under 
subsection (b) in each fiscal year, such province shall distribute not less than 95 
percent of such funds in such year to local educational agencies within such province 
according to the relative enrolment 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 cost per child 
such as those students -- 
(A) Living in areas with high concentrations of low-income families; 


(6) 
From low-income families; and 
(C) Living in sparsely populated areas. 
(2) CALCULATION OF ENROLLMENT - The calculation of relative enrolments 
under paragraph (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 Scholl Library Media Specialist and Teacher 
Partnerships for Instructional innovation Program. - The Director shall award grants for 
projects that -- 
( 1 )  Encourage collaboration between public elementary, secondary and tertiary 
school library media specialists and teacher in order to develop units of instruction that 
enable elementary, secondary and tertiary school students to use a variety of 
information resources; and 
(2) Expand students' information-gathering abilities and cognitive skills of 
selection, analysis, evaluation and application. 
SECTION 7. Establishment of the Uses of Technology in the Classroom 
Program. -The Program established - 
(1) IN GENERAL - The Director shall award grants to encourage collaborative 
elementary, secondary and tertiary school library media specialist and teacher 
programs designed to -- 
(A) Expand the use of computers and computer networks in the curriculum; and 
(B) Enable elementary and secondary school library media centers to access 
information from computerized databases. 
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 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 shall 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 or amended accordingly. 
SECTION 14. Effectivity Clause. -This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after 
its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved.