LIBRARY SYSTEM: OVERVIEW

Sharing of Concerns and Celebration of Blessings 

          SCC Library serves as the hub of instruction and information network to support the educational, research and other programs of the College by providing students, faculty and staff access to the varied library resources.

          This is a centralized library system where the Director of Libraries assumes leadership in the coordination of the eight library units and with the Librarians and Staff in each unit. These units include the Undergraduate Library, Periodical Library and Internet/Cyber Library located at the 3rd floor - Herman Krusi Library. The other units are Faculty/Staff & Graduate Studies Library, General Reference Library, Periodical Library and the Educational Media Resources Center housed at the Bravo-Manjares Learning Center located at the second floor. The Theology Library is housed at the College of Theology Compound. The High School Library is located at the High School U-shaped building, and the Elementary School/Preschool Library is housed at the ground floor of the 2-storey Elementary Building.

          The main library has a seating capacity of 310 with at least 24 carrels; F/S Graduate Studies Library of 35; and the College of Theology - 18, High School Library has 100; the Elementary/Preschool Library has 63. The audio-visual materials of the library are placed at the Educational Media Resources Center (EMRC). The center has the capacity to accommodate 120 persons utmost. The Cyber Library has 30 functioning computer internet stations.

          The Library materials are organized according to the Dewey Decimal Classification System. These library materials can be searched using the Card Catalog and the Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC). To fully serve its clientele, the library adopted a combination of open and close shelf system. The Faculty & staff can borrow 10 books at a time for 1 month renewal for three times in a semester. Aside from the graduate students, the faculty and staff are also the priority users of the internet in the F/S & Graduate Studies Library.

          In the year 1999, the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia approved and funded the automation of the Library. For easy and quick access to the different library materials, the library adopted the Follett library automation software in 2000 utilizing the cataloging and circulation modules. This library automated system can generate bibliography reports, online borrowing and online public access catalog and many other operations. Again, the United Board funded the Internet project of 1.2 million, thus we have the Internet/CyberLibrary which commenced in 2001.

          Southern Christian College has been actively involved in the project of the Books for the Barrios Foundation, Inc. since 2003. “The foundation of BOOKS for the BARRIOS is the redistribution of high-quality U.S. educational materials to schools in the Philippines. The SCC library in coordination with the Department of Library and Information Science established the Books for the Barrios Service-Learning of LIS students in various public schools in the Cotabato province. With our linkage to this Foundation, we are also able to augment the SCC library collection alongside our purchases made.

          Aside from the BBB Foundation, we are also grateful that we are a member of the PLMP – Phil Library Materials Foundation based in Cagayan De Oro City. These foundations send SCC 20-40 boxes of library materials every year, and we are only paying the cheapest cost for the freight and handling of these boxes from the US to SCC.

          The Bravo-Manjares Learning Center was established in 2008 to offer literacy program at the Southern Christian College. This is made possible through the donations from the Bravo and Manjares Families in the United States initiated by Dr. Ma. Elena B. Bugacia and Dr. Erlinda N. Senturias, President of SCC 1997-2007.

          In August 2009, thirty (30) computers with LCD monitors were procured through the financial support from the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (UBCHEA).

          In June 2010, the ventilation of the library was improved, thus the library now is fully air-conditioned except the Periodical Library.

          Under the new leadership of Dr. Progreso E. Umacob, it is our hope that the library will continue to evolve and grow through the support of everyone, through our networks and linkages here and around the world for SCC constituents to benefit and enjoy. We truly hope that the administration will continue to extend their lasting support for continued development of the library. All that we have been doing all through these years - the services, the endeavor and the hard work are not for ourselves but for our beloved institution in particular. Let us then maximize the use of our library and support every program and project in the way we can and make SCC... "the pride of every human heart!"

Prepared by Sandra Lyn Q. Quinones, Director of Libraries, Southern Christian College, 9410 Midsayap, Cotabato.

Stewards of God's Creation

Devotion Incharge: The Library System
Theme: Stewardship
Date:   November 9, 2009 


A pleasant morning to everyone. Let me start my message by citing the UCCP Guide to Celebration of the Stewardship Month. “November is Stewardship month. It reminds us of the innate responsibility that God has given us. It is the privilege of “holding life and all else possessed as a trust from God.” It is a commitment and an accountability that makes us unique from all creation.

Being members of the Church, the body of Christ, we are commissioned to “deepen and broaden our experiences and understanding of the Christian faith and heritage that we may collectively and individually become living witnesses and responsible stewards of God’s creation.”

Every now and then… in the television, over the radio and even in our own school community, we always hear and discuss about garbage, waste, unclean surroundings, the filthy and dirty market places, terminals, compounds, villages and even in our own campus. Not forgetting the very foul-smelling, odorous comfort rooms… that oftentimes become uncomforting rooms to us anymore. Rivers, drainage and canals have also become dumping areas of wastes and these had become dwelling places to some. When heavy rains, storms and other natural calamities occur, landslides are being experienced and some places easily get flooded. Eventually, people suffer and struggle for life and human dignity.

Like what happened in Luzon and other parts of the country, storms Ondoy, Peping, Ramil and Santi left a lot of ruins not only to human beings but also to things, and other creations like animals and plants. Have we ever reflected on these issues and concerns that for quite a long time we still have these problems and the sad thing is that it is even becoming even more serious and severe. Have we not been good stewards of God’s creation?

I would like to believe to what Arfel said that “Kung ang kinaiyahan na gani ang maningil sa tawo, mas daku og grabe ang balos, maglisod kita sa pagsagang madatu ka man o pobre.’ True enough, when the nature is already pissed off by what human beings are doing to its natural resources, people become defenseless and vulnerable to floods and other devastations.

Let me mention a simple event. I don’t know if you also have reflected on why we are now buying mineral or purified water for drink. Before, when we were yet in the elementary grade and high school, we used to just drink in faucets inside the campus. But now, we are afraid to be caught by stomach problem. We, the parents are contributing money for the gallons of mineral water for our children in our elementary school. Perhaps our school could no longer provide water because the water is not safe for drinking anymore.

Just like bringing our bottled dinking water anywhere we go, we may come to a point when we need to bring or carry small oxygen containing purified and clean air to breath because of air pollution. This is the least that we all could imagine and for sure, we do not want this situation to happen to neither our lives nor the lives of the next generation.

Issue on climate change or global warming is indeed alarming. According to Microsoft Encarta, 2008, “Scientists project global warming to continue at a rate that is unprecedented in hundreds of thousands or even millions of years of Earth’s history. They predict considerably more warming in the 21st century, depending on the level of future greenhouse gas emissions. For a scenario (possible situation) assuming higher emissions—in which emissions continue to increase significantly during the century—scientists project further warming of 2.4 to 6.4 Celsius degrees (4.3 to 11.5 Fahrenheit degrees) by the year 2100. For a scenario assuming lower emissions—in which emissions grow slowly, peak around the year 2050, and then fall—scientists project further warming of 1.1 to 2.9 Celsius degrees (1.9 to 5.2 Fahrenheit degrees) by the year 2100.”

It further stated that “melting polar ice and glaciers, as well as warming of the oceans, expands ocean volume and raises sea level, which will eventually flood some coastal regions and even entire islands. Patterns of rainfall are expected to change, with higher latitudes (closer to the poles) projected to receive more rainfall, and subtropical areas (such as the Mediterranean and southern Africa) projected to receive considerably less. Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns may damage food crops, disrupting food production in some parts of the world. Plant and animal species will shift their ranges toward the poles or to higher elevations seeking cooler temperatures and species that cannot do so may become extinct. Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere also leads to increased ocean acidity, damaging ocean ecosystems.”

True enough as a source mentioned “developing countries like the Philippines believe that they have the most to lose from continued global warming. Because much of the developing world occupies warmer regions, where many species of crops and domesticated animals live at the upper limit of their natural temperature tolerances, higher temperatures could lead to widespread livestock declines and crop failures. Moreover, unlike the industrialized world, most developing nations especially the Philippines, lack the capital and infrastructure to develop new varieties of heat-tolerant crops and animals, lack capital and infrastructure to build flood control systems, and lack capital and infrastructure to deploy disaster relief when needed.”

Human beings face global warming with a huge population at risk. The potential consequences are so great. That is why many of the world’s leading scientists and increasingly, politicians, business leaders, environmentalists and other citizens are calling for international cooperation and immediate action to counteract the problem.

In SCC, many said we are experiencing a problem of “improper” waste disposal. This may be a minute problem but if not properly addressed this could become a huge one. Are we serious in solving this problem? As a college, how much time, effort and financial appropriation do we provide in order to effectively and efficiently do the process of proper waste disposal and zero-waste management?

This is a great challenge to all of us… because if we do not act or do something we all will suffer in the end. Let us remember that making schools successful takes more than just individual effort - it takes teamwork. Schools are using teams to accomplish many tasks and for teamwork to be successful, teams and individual team members need to have clear, shared goals; to have a sense of commitment; have the ability to work together; have mutual accountability; have access to needed resources and skills; and other elements of effective teams to work towards a common goal.

It is then equally important that security, safety and disaster planning is done ahead of time while big problems do not occur yet. There are still time and ways to restore our dearest earth. When we do our contributions and share in little or big ways, we can say then that we have not failed being the trusted stewards of God’s creation. Amen.

Delivered by Sandra Lyn Q. Quiñones, SCC Director of Libraries during the Monday Morning Devotion on the Celebration of the Stewardship Month, November 9, 2009 at the Chapel of the     Dawn, Southern Christian College, Midsayap, Cotabato.