Christine M. Abrigo: A Profile

Christine  M. Abrigo: A Profile

by

Melchor F. Cichon

November 10, 2013

Oh, how small the world is!

I never have thought that after almost 20 years,  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 through Facebook.

But she is not just a daughter.  She is a librarian to reckon with.

According to Mr. Joseph Marmol Yap, her colleague 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, De La Salle University Libraries, Taft Avenue, Manila.

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

Christine's mother, Rosita Manglal-lan, was once an employee of the College of Fisheries, UPV, Diliman, Quezon City. It is now known as the UPV College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (UPV-CFOS).

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

I asked her what triggered her to take up a library science course.

"By accident, " she said.

Before she transferred to UP Diliman from UPV, she was taking up a BS Fisheries in UPV-CFOS. She then took up units for a BS Geography degree. The next semester, she got anxious because she was already a third year student, and yet she could still not visualize of getting any  college degree. That motivated her to consult the university's counseling diagnostics services. The results showed that she was inclined at anything sketchy, hence she was advised to take up architecture.  However this is a 5-year degree, aside from being very expensive and it requires lots of math. The results also showed that she was inclined for anything that would require orderliness and literature. She was advised to take up Library Science. 

She took the challenge. And she did not regret for taking it.

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

But before this, Christine, like most young professionals, 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 to 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), a unit of  De La Salle University Libraries, where she was engaged in various library works which included supervising and directing all activities relating to the operation of the Br. Benedict Learning Resource Center (BBLRC); recommending, administering  and reviewing  policies and procedures related 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.

Then, she was appointed as 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.

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."

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 at De La Salle University Libraries, 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. Some of her works are found in her blog: http://cmabrigo.wordpress.com/

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 a mother  rolled into one.