Compliance of city and provincial libraries in Western Visayas with the minimum standard for public libraries in the Philippines

Abstract

Library standards were established to guide libraries in advancing their services and further satisfy their clients' information needs. A qualitative-quantitative research was conducted to assess the compliance of the three city and two provincial libraries in Western Visayas to the Standard of Philippine Public Libraries (SPPL) in terms of library administration, collection management, physical facilities, library services, financial resources, and collaboration, networking and linkages for the fiscal year 2019. Results of the study revealed that most of the city and provincial libraries in the region were compliant with most of the areas of the standard except physical facilities and financial resources. The facilities of most libraries were inadequate to support the needs of the clients and the library personnel. Likewise, most of the libraries' budgetary allocations were very low to support the upgrade of the library programs, especially on the upgrading of library facilities and the purchasing of current resources in various formats. On the other hand, although all of the libraries do not have a library website, it was found that Facebook has helped them enhance their linkages, networking, and collaboration.