Reorganization of the Rizal Library in Higher Education (HE Memo#Y3.32)

HE Memo#Y3.32
27 May 2025

As we wind up the semester, I’m sending the Higher Education community the last of the six memos that spell out the restructuring of the different major offices under the Vice President’s Office for Higher Education. This is about the reorganization of the Rizal Library.

There’s now just one Rizal Library that has locations at different campuses:  Rizal Library Katipunan (as the main RL that serves the School of Humanities, the Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design, the John Gokongwei School of Management, the School of Science and Engineering, the Dr. Rosita G. Leong School of Social Sciences, and the School of Government), Rizal Library Rockwell (for the School of Law and the Graduate School of Business), and Rizal Library Ortigas (for the School of Medicine and Public Health). Students and faculty can now freely use any of these libraries for purposes that suit them.

Reorganizing the Rizal Library is an initiative that aligns with the University’s commitment to enhancing institutional efficiency and ensuring that the Library continues to serve as a cornerstone of academic excellence and student formation. The Rizal Library is a sanctuary of multi-media learning that houses 400 thousand books, 50,000 journals, 45 online databases, CDs and DVDs, microfilms, paintings, newspapers, and archival material. With its reorganization, the Rizal Library embraces a renewed mandate centered on the following key objectives:

• Integrating Library Services: Streamlining operations across all Higher Education library units to foster a unified service platform.
• Enhancing Accessibility: Utilizing innovative technologies and user-friendly interfaces to ensure library resources are accessible to all members of the Ateneo community.
• Promoting Lifelong Learning: Curating programs and resources that encourage intellectual growth and critical thinking.
• Sustaining Community Engagement: Strengthening partnerships with stakeholders to foster an inclusive and collaborative environment

Updated Organizational Structure

To be able to attain these objectives, the Rizal Library has an updated organizational structure that consists of five main services:

1. Reader Services
   • Responsible for front-line services, circulation, digital and physical collections management, and user engagement strategies.
   • Reader services include those in the Circulation Section, the Multimedia and Information Commons, the Reference Section, the Business and Law library in Rockwell, and the Medical library in Pasig.
2. Technical Services
   • Oversees acquisitions and cataloging of books and resources
3. Administrative Services
   • Manages strategic planning, internal operations, and external relations.
4. Special Collections
   • Preserves, curates, and promotes the unique and valuable collections of the Rizal Library.
   • The special collections include the following:  The American Historical Collection, the Ateneo Library of Women’s Writings, he Filipiniana and Indexing Section, the Pardo de Tavera Library, the Epics and Ballads Collection, the Photoduplication Section, and the Microforms and Digital Resources.
5. Archives
   • Safeguards rare materials, institutional records, and specialized research collections.

Organizational Chart

The organizational chart visually represents the updated structure and the relationships among the clusters.

Acknowledgments and Support

The reorganization of the Rizal Library was undertaken with the guidance of the RL Executive Team: Ms. Ma. Theresa B. Villanueva (current Acting University Librarian), Ms. Sonia Lourdes David (Deputy University Librarian for Technical Services), Ms. Joenabie E. Arevalo (University Librarian starting January 2026) and Ms. Rosalyn S. Diño (Deputy University Librarian for Special Services).  This is a friendly team. You can channel your inquiries to the Office of the University Librarian at administration.rl@ateneo.edu.

I would also like to acknowledge with thanks the work of Engracia (Dhea) S. Santos, former Deputy University Librarian for Special Services, who acted as Acting University Librarian till December 2024.  Dhea's dynamic personality led the team with gusto.  And, in this reorganization, who can ever forget the former University Librarian, Dr. Vernon Totanes!  He painstakingly combed through the work spaces of the different Rizal Library locations, navigated the subcultures in the RL communities, and allowed for creative collaboration among many.  Thank you, Von!

The work of reorganization involves HR help. And we thank, particularly the University People, Team, and Organization Development Office under the Office of the Vice President for Human Resources for their tireless and patient collaboration.  

I trust that we at the Ateneo Higher Education community support the Rizal Library’s commitment to knowledge, innovation, and service excellence so that it can maintain its stature as a friendly cathedral of learning for all.