The UP BLC Primer

Preamble
“We, the members of the University of the Philippines Bibliotech, in
order to form a more ideal society founded on the principles of service,
distinction and ingenuity, to realize the vision of an uplifted profession of
library and information specialists who embrace the interdisciplinary
nature of their field and a highly-informed and well-educated society
which values learning and enlightenment towards the betterment of the
country, the community and the individual, do hereby ordain and
promulgate this constitution.”

How it all started: a brief history

December 2008: A small group of students found that they were classmates in
several LIS courses. Having the same schedules, they met often and began having
lunches, hanging out in the same places, talking about the same things – and one day,
in a state of indecision over which organization best represented their interests, they
decided to take matters into their own hands.

UP BLC started out as a what-if scenario, a jest some would say, a jest that
grew (and continues to grow) to be greater than what it initially was. Early activities
of UP BLC were immediately slanted towards their thrust to uplift and improve the
professional nature of Librarianship and Information Studies, starting with the School
of Library and Information Science outwards to the rest of the University and
eventually to society.

UP BLC participated in the Lantern Parade, marching along with the rest of
the SLIS community; later as the night wore on the organization hosted its first-ever
Lantern Parade Party which attracted much of the student population of SLIS. This
party was open to all students in SLIS and built up camaraderie between organizations
as members from LISSA, FLIPP and the SLIS Student Council also came to relax and
enjoy themselves after the long process of building the SLIS lantern.
 Shortly after that UP BLC also participated in the GAB Memorial Lecture
series, setting a relaxed atmosphere through the creation of colorful backgrounds for
the lecture's venue. The speaker, Dr. Luis Gatmaitan enjoyed the setting so much that
he graciously signed several of the props created and met with UP BLC personally to
congratulate the organization.

UP BLC also hosts Repasos, or review sessions, in keeping with its principles of
distinction and ingenuity. These Repasos ensure that members internalize the theory
and practice of our profession.

This year, in addition to the new tambayan, we would also look forward to
you – to the new applicants who might one day find themselves part of a growing
legacy.
The Principles of UP BLC

Service.

UP BLC believes in working towards the betterment of their fellow students. Service
is in itself part of the very nature of our profession as librarians. This priciple
underlies the social aspect and relevance of the organization, which places a high
priority on service as a means of giving back to our roots and environment, which has
allowed us to grow.

Ingenuity.

This principle represents the creativity possessed by each member towards improving
themselves, the organization, the LIS profession, and the rest of society. By the
interdisciplinary nature of our course, we are empowered to combine knowledge in
ways not ordinarily considered by others.

Distinction.

We believe in being the standard, the benchmark, the organization which other
organizations must be compared to. We aspire to be distinct, to push ourselves to be
better people than who we were yesterday by continuously learning and growing.