Christine M. Abrigo: A Librarian of High Level

Christine  M. Abrigo: A Librarian of High Level

by

Melchor F. Cichon

November 4, 2013

Oh, how small the world is!

I never have thought that someday, I would "meet" the daughter of one of my colleagues at the U.P. in the Visayas, now known as U.P. Visayas.  I did not even know that her mother has passed away about 20 years ago.  I mean, I met her online.

The last time I met her mother was in the early 1990s. 

But she is not just a daughter. She is a librarian of high level.

According to Mr. Joseph Marmol Yap, her director at the De la Salle University Library, she is a hardworking,  mabusisi, and seryoso type of person.

"She never fails to remind us of the things that we need to do, " Mr. Yap said about her, and,   "A very responsible librarian (since she is the assistant director for operations)".  
She said she is an organized lady.  

I am referring to Mrs. Christine M. Abrigo, the Assistant Director for Operation, University Library, De La Salle University, Taft Avenue, Manila.

Her husband is Vince Abrigo (who is also a librarian by profession). They have a child, Mithi Aiello Katerina.

Christine's parents, Conrado and Rosita Manglal-lan, were once  employees of the College of Fisheries, UPV, Diliman, Quezon City. It is now known as the UPV College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.

When the UPV College of Fisheries was transferred from UP Diliman to UP Visayas, almost all of its employees were uprooted to Miag-ao, Iloilo, including Christine and her parents.

And that was also the reason why Christine continued her secondary education in Miag-ao, Iloilo, including her freshman year at UP Visayas.

At that time her mother, Rosita (known as Tita among us)  was in-charge of the Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanology (IMFO) Library. IMFO is one of the institutes of the UPV College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.

Later she transferred to UP Diliman where she earned her BLIS and her MLIS degrees.

Unconsciously this is one of the reasons why she took up a library science as her career.

Now, Christine works as an Associate Librarian at the University Library, De la Salle University, Taft Avenue, Manila.

Like most young professionals, Christine has hopped from one work to another, perhaps to gain the needed experience and skills before she settled for good.

She once said: "I refuse to belong in a librarian club of purists who are seemingly contented with keeping stale and do not venture any longer into the labyrinth of the evolving profession."

Immediately after she graduated from her Bachelor of Library and Information Science, at the School of Library and Information Studies, UP Diliman, in 1997, she immediately worked as a cataloger at the Rizal Library, Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), Loyola Heights, Quezon City.

After this, she worked as Archives Officer II at Sampaguita Pictures Film Archive, Ortigas Avenue Extension, New Manila, Quezon City, 1998-1999. 

Her works focused on archiving of the film, video and photo collection;  monitoring the preservation and conservation of the studio's film and video collection.

After her stint in Sampaguita Pictures, she moved to the University Library, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City where she was assigned as a media librarian, a reference librarian, and as gifts and exchange librarian.

Then she moved to another institution. This time at Br. Benedict Learning Resource Center (BBLRC) where she was engaged in various library works which included the following: supervising and directing all activities relating to the operation of the Br. Benedict Learning Resource Center (BBLRC); recommending, administering  and reviewing  policies and procedures relating to the operation of the BBLRC; developing, implementing and evaluating programs for the continuous improvement of the services; monitoring the efficient and effective use of resources, facilities, and equipment, and setting  the physical arrangement and proper upkeep of the concerned area of responsibility; delivering professional and quality assistance to users; establishing  and maintaining effective communication with students, faculty, administrators, staff,  and visiting users of the library.

Perhaps after gaining enough knowledge and skills on the various activities of a professional librarian, Christine moved to an equally prestigious institution of higher learning, the De La Salle University.

There she works  as an Associate Librarian and Assistant Director for Operations, a position that really requires a lot of  technical, human, conceptual  and design skills to achieve  the goals of their institution.

Consider her functions:

To assist the Library Director in directing and supervising the operations and office management core functions of the library

To serve as alternate representative of the Library in other University committees and meetings;

To provide assistance in opening and maintaining channels of communication between the administration, faculty, and students toward increased understanding of the library’s role, needs and problems;

To participate in the hiring, renewal and termination of personnel services

To encourage maximum utilization of the library resources for teaching and research; assists in the continuous review of the effectiveness of the library in supporting the university’s program and curricula;

To evaluate the performance of section coordinators and other librarians and staff under her/his direct supervision, and

To provide the needed feedback for the efficient delivery of quality service

And now that she has settled, I wonder what other things she thinks of as a librarian.

She referred me to her blog (http://cmabrigo.wordpress.com/welcome/about/)

She wrote and I quote:

"I have been a practicing librarian for about 16 years now. Although I may have garnered a relatively fair share of career experience over the years, I still consider myself as an everyday thriving professional, more so, an advocate of progressive librarianship. Progressive in the sense that my thrust lies not on the demeaning stereotypes every Filipino librarian get in the line of duty, but on tapping the potentials that still need to be roused from within him/her. I refuse to belong in a librarian club of purists who are seemingly contented with keeping stale and do not venture any longer into the labyrinth of the evolving profession. Traditional librarianship to me is the key to all doors of progress. And just as one is armed with these indispensable traditions, it is but imperative that those doors need not be left undiscovered.

"Librarianship to me is not just a title. It is a universe of learning. Every librarian must pursue all possibilities for career (and even personal) growth laid before him/her; and by all, I mean not only the hallowed realms of library and information science, but even other disciplines that could draw out all that s/he has to offer in the name of progressive librarianship.

"I explore all career opportunities coming along my way not because I am good nor even better than any one of my contemporaries in the field. I brave the waters because I believe that I can grow so much in my role as an “everyday thriving professional” and be the credible deliverer of knowledge abounding that I am grooming myself to be for my constituents. I am here because of this very advocacy."

It reminds me of a saying that says, give more works to a fast worker and he/she will do them efficiently.

And indeed, this is true.

As I mentioned earlier, Christine is not just an ordinary daughter, but she is also an extra-ordinary worker.

While working as a librarian, she is also active in library organizations. She is a member of the following: Philippine Librarians Association, Inc. (PLAI), Society of Film Archivists (SOFIA), Philippine Association of Academic and Research Libraries (PAARL) , U.P. Library Science Alumni Association (UPLSAA), and International Labour Organization Intern Network.

Not only that she is also active in research and publications. Two of her works are as follows:

Ramos, M.S. & C.M. Abrigo. “Reference 2.0 in Action: An Evaluation of the Digital Reference Services in Selected Philippine Academic Libraries“. Library Hi Tech News 29 (1), 2012

Abrigo, C.M. “From raw materials to end product: developing an online information resource for the International Labour Organization”. Journal of Philippine Librarianship 29 (1), 2009

Not only that, she has been asked to deliver talks on various topics related to library science. Here are two of her  talks:

Reinventing Reference Service: Emerging Technologies in Information Service. Seminar-Workshop on Enhancing Competencies of Public School Librarians, 27-28 October 2011, hosted by the De La Salle University Library. European Documentation Centre,

Taft Avenue, Manila, PHILIPPINES

Preservation of Audio-Visual Materials: An Introduction.  Seminar-Workshop on Archives: Bringing Past to Present for Good Governance, 04-06 May 2011, hosted by the DLSP, SMI-IC, CEAP-NCR, PAMI, PNULISAA Inc., CSB Hotel International Conference Center, Malate, Manila, PHILIPPINES

Lastly, here is what she says about herself: Hindi po ako marunong magsulat ng poetry But I blog.  (I'm a grammar nazi). I also read (my preferences are varied). I love music. I like watching theater season plays. I am also cheap - I (and my husband) would look out for free concerts and free e-books; Lucky Me pancit canton, kikiam, siomai = solb! Hmm, librarianship is not really my kind of fancy, but of course, anything about it, I pay attention.

That's Christine:  the librarian, the researcher, the blogger, the administrator, and the mother  rolled into one.