BUTUAN CITY — A donation of 1,213 books from Rex Education Foundation, Inc. has been formally turned over to the Butuan City Public Library, adding substantial depth to the city's learning resources and extending their reach beyond the central library to barangay reading centers across the city. The turnover ceremony took place on October 29, 2026, at the library's premises, with the foundation's executive director, Dr. Ceazar Valerei E. Navarro, leading the handover alongside the foundation's national learning solutions manager.
A Collection Spanning Disciplines
The donated titles are not confined to a single subject area. They cover engineering, language, science, reading, human resource management, physics, and other fields, giving the library a broader academic and professional range than it previously held. For students preparing for technical courses, teachers building lesson materials, and professionals returning to references they cannot easily access elsewhere, the new arrivals fill gaps that a public library in a regional city often struggles to address. The collection is expected to serve not only the main library's regular patrons but also readers at the city's barangay reading centers, where book stocks are typically thinner and turnover slower.
A Partnership That Extends Beyond the Ceremony
The event was organized by the City Education Development Department through its Educational Resource Management Division, with department head Rosalito B. Libres and division head Corazon H. Baybay overseeing the arrangements. Representatives from various barangays attended, as did a delegation from the Municipality of Marihatag in Surigao del Sur, led by its municipal mayor. The presence of officials from another local government unit underscored a broader point: access to quality learning materials is a regional concern, and partnerships that place books in public libraries can ripple outward to neighboring communities. In his acceptance message, the city mayor expressed gratitude for the donation, describing each book as an opportunity for someone to learn and to see the world from a different perspective.
Why Books Still Matter in a Digital Age
Public libraries in the Philippines continue to serve households that lack reliable internet access or the means to purchase reference materials. For those readers, a donated book is not a backup to a digital resource; it is the primary resource. The Rex Education Foundation's donation reflects a recognition that literacy and learning depend on the physical availability of reading materials, particularly in communities where the nearest bookstore is far away and the cost of new books competes with other household expenses. The 1,213 titles now on the shelves are, in practical terms, 1,213 additional chances for a student, a teacher, or a curious reader to encounter something they would not otherwise have found.
