Plentiful: USM's Future Librarians and Information Scientists!

By: Jolo Van Clyde S. Abatayo, RL

I think that here in the Philippines, the academic program, Bachelor of Library and Information Science (BLIS) is not one of the so-called popular courses because there are only few who patronize it. I believe that if you ask 10 persons if they know something about this course, I am sure that only 2 or 3 are enlightened.

North Cotabato is a humble province of the Philippines located in the SOCCSKSARGEN region in Mindanao. It is not only considered as the "Fruit Basket of Mindanao" but a haven and domain for future librarians and information scientists.

For the information of everybody, there are only two schools in the province who offer the BLIS program and they are Southern Christian College (my beloved alma mater) and the University of Southern Mindanao (my Ex-school). USM is a major producer of BLIS graduates in the province. This learning milieu is consistently honing numerous BLIS students and producing plenty of graduates. According to Miss Mojica, a BLIS senior student of USM, as of this academic year 2018-2019, there are 26 first year BLIS students and 52 fourth students pursuing the course. Because of the changes in the educational system in the country (of course, K to 12), they don't have sophomores and juniors as of now.

I can still remember our annual gatherings before when I was still a college student, specifically during the Province-wide culmination of the National Book Week and Information Month, USM always got the highest number of delegates. One assumption I can give is that USM is a state university so it's affordable. According to Finduniversity.ph, as of 2015, the tuition fee, if you want to earn the degree, is 4,000-6,000 pesos per semester so it is really not that expensive. Another assumption is that there are only 2 schools which offer this academic program in the province and USM is more reachable to the other municipalities of North Cotabato. We also have to admit that Southern Christian College is a private school so I think that only few would really dare to enter its realm (if you know what I mean). Moreover, let us also consider the quality education in USM (of course, SCC is giving that as well). It could be one of the reasons why this university is flooded with enrollees. Lastly, I think that BLIS is one of the in-demand courses in the province because registered librarians are really wanted and needed all over the country.

Anyway, kudos to Ma'am Anita  Sornito, their program head for having a fruitful program! I really wanna know what's your secret. Please share to us your marketing strategies so we can also attract more enrollees! (Just kidding)

Thank you so much, USM for blessing the Philippines more librarians and information scientists who can surely help in augmenting academic excellence and research development. This university is indeed a provider of plentiful BLIS graduates and LIS professionals! Awesome!

Photos from: Queenie Mojica