Joseph Marmol Yap: a Proactive Librarian

Joseph Marmol Yap: a Proactive Librarian
by
Melchor F. Cichon
October 5, 2013

As far as I can remember, I have wanted to talk with personalities who are beyond their ages because they can share their penetrating knowledge and wisdom.

So when Dr. Reysa Alenzuela mentioned the name of Mr. Joseph M. Yap, whom I learned later as the incumbent president of ASLP, I did not lose time to contact him and inform him of my passion in writing profiles of Filipino librarian.

But I got a big problem when I saw his full pack 16-page bio-data despite his young age. No wonder that the UP Library Science Alumni Association bestowed on him the Young Achiever Award on May 25, 2013. At that time, he was only 29 years old.

One month before that, Joseph won the 3rd Best Paper Award, together with his co-authors Elijah Dar Juan and Martin Julius Perez during the 3rd International Conference of Asian Special Libraries. It was awarded by the SLA Asian Chapter at PICC, Pasay City, Philippines last April 11, 2013.

According to Prof. R. Dante Perez, Joseph started being active with the Medical and Health Librarians Association of the Philippines (MAHLAP), then with the Association of Special Libraries of the Philippines (ASLP). Prof. Perez further said that Joseph "really has a good future in our profession having started young as a proactive librarian which remind me of myself during my younger years."

Joseph Marmol Yap was born on May 20, 1984 in Quezon City. His parents are Melvin and Teresita Yap, both are working for a subscription company for magazines and journals. Unfortunately, they are separated. He took his elementary and high school studies in Mater Carmeli School- Novaliches. He then proceeded to college for his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Pamantasan ng Lunsod ng Maynila, but he changed his mind and he transferred to the University of the Philippines - Diliman where he enrolled for his Bachelor of Library and Information Science. He graduated as a cum laude. Because of this honor, he was automatically given a professional civil service eligibility by the Philippine government.

While in UP Diliman, his leadership skill and his devotion to work were developed.

He was elected as Councilor in the UP Institute of Library and Information Science Student Council (ILIS SC), and served as Academic Committee Head, AY 2005-2006. He was also its Features Editor of Incunabula, and graduation Picture Committee Member of Incunabula.

Aside from being a student leader, Joseph worked as an Intern at the Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center, Library and Archives, U.P. Diliman. He also worked as a trainee at the ABS-CBN Central Library and Archives and in SEAMEO INNOTECH Learning Resource Center, among others. While still in college, he experienced an on the job training at the Culion Sanitoarium Archives in Culion, Palawan.

This leadership training was put to use after graduation when he became the organizer of various trainings in the country. He also served MAHLAP in various capacities as PRO for two years and Secretary for one year. But the greatest challenge he experienced so far is when he became the president of ASLP in 2013.

It was also in UP where his expertise in writing was molded. He was the Features Editor of Incunabula.

The results of this training in journalism could be seen in the many papers, researches he has written for the many conferences, seminar-workshops he has attended as a resource speaker, a paper presenter, and the published articles he has written in the local and international publications.

Perhaps because of his high achievements in college and his experiences while still a college student, he did not find difficulty in looking for a job. His first job was in ACTMalaria Information Resource Center (AIRC) where he was assigned first as Information Resource Assistant. It was there where his expertise in indexing and abstracting was applied. Later he worked as Associate Librarian of De La Salle University Library, Metro Manila.

With this background, Joseph received conference grants, travel grants, scholarship grants and other privileges. He finished his MLIS degree from UP through the Presidential Scholar grant given by UP and thesis grant by PAARL. He presented a paper together with his co-author Ms. Ana Maria B. Fresnido, Director of Libraries, DLSU - Manila, among others, entitled, “Academic library consortia in the Philippines: hanging in the balance” based from the theme, Academic Librarian 3: The Yin-Yang of Future Consortial Collaboration and Competition in Chinese University of Hong Kong in May 30-31, 2013. He also presented a paper during the 15th Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians (CONSAL) entitled “An Evaluative Review of the Library Cooperation Program of the Inter-University Consortium” in Discovery Kartika Hotel, Bali, Indonesia, May 28-31, 2012.

In his bio-data, one can see the many accomplishments Joseph has received. And so I asked him of his philosophy. And he said: "I always believe that for one person to reach the highest peak, one must start from the bottom.” He also added that in “loving what you do, it will also love you back."

Finally, I asked him of his wish. He said that "Professionally, I dream that the government and the society understand fully the role of libraries, archives and museum. And that media will portray librarians as intellectual individuals."

"How can this be done? ", I asked him.

"Well, " he said, "it should first come from our end. We need to let them know what we exactly do. Sometimes, media feature us in their programs. When there's an opportunity to tell them what we really do to preserve our history, culture, and knowledge.  Then we might achieve that wish!"

Amen