The City Government of Davao has, for years, consistently supported literacy and lifelong learning through the district libraries built all over the city.
Grace Platitas, Calinan District Librarian, in an interview with the city-owned Davao City Disaster Radio, said that Calinan District Library serves Dabawenyos by providing free access to books, Wi-Fi, and board games.
She said the library has served more than 4,000 clients as of December 2024.
She also said that the majority of their clients are students.
“Pag-start na sa school daghan na pod kaayo og estudyante. There are times nga maghulat gani ang uban sa gawas unya mahutdan mi og chairs (There are a lot of students when the classes begin. Sometimes we run out of chairs and some people even have to wait outside),” she said.
“Sa atoang district library diri sa Calinan, wala mi naga-require og library ID. Naga-require lang mi og library ID kung maghiram sila (We do not require library ID here in Calinan district library. We only require a library ID when they need to borrow),” she added.
Maria Malit Palmero, the Toril District Librarian, said the Toril library has served 3,797 clients as of December 2024.
She said the most of their clients come to the library to do their assignments.
She said they also provide activities for the children that visit the library during summer.
“Ginapa-color namo sila, mag-drawing, ginapa-answer namo sila’g multiplication, addition, subtraction. Ganahan kaayo sila ana (We ask students to color, draw, and even solve addition, subtraction, and multiplication problems. They really love that),” she said.
Davao City has district libraries in Calinan, Baguio, Buda, Toril, and Tugbok. These are open from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CIO
