DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/17 Oct) – The public library in this city will soon become an upgraded version of an incubation space, where one learns to think more, develop and express new ideas, an industry leader said Wednesday.
Coming from a recent selling mission in the United States, Bert Barriga, executive vice president of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Davao, Inc., said the Beyond Access Team will visit the city next month to consider a possible grant for transforming the library here.
The City Library and Information Center is located at the third floor of the Sangguniang Panlungsod building along San Pedro Street.
Developing its resources and facilities, the city library is under the Office of the Mayor and administered by the National Library.
Barriga said the city library will utilize the grant for facilities improvement such as Internet connectivity, upgraded computers and other equipment, providing an environment that is conducive, clean and sufficient.
He added that the idea center will be a combination of an Internet café, where there is a corner for food and drinks, and a place for discussions and trainings on how to express ideas.
He cited that city government officers, companies and other stakeholders will be free to visit the idea center and contribute to developing new ideas or innovation for possible businesses.
He said the Beyond Access Team, a quasi formation of private stakeholders, government and foundations in the US, led the selling mission last September 28 to October 15 with at least 35 participating countries.
The main goal of the mission held at Washington, D.C. was to empower libraries all over the world, according to Barriga.
He said in the advent of information and ideas spreading through the Internet, transforming a library into a “real” information center to help communities will encourage and inspire everyone to explore, create and innovate ideas. (Lorie Ann A. Cascaro / MindaNews)