“Books had instant replay long before televised sports,” said the English philosopher Bernard Williams.
This undeniable link between books and sports is founded in the powerful dynamics between theory and practice of sports. Fortunately, Filipinos do not need to look far as a new and improved Philippine Sports Library is about to open its doors.
Sports play a significant role in building a nation. It is a universal language that speaks of the culture, tradition, character and life of the people. Given all these factors, sports deserves its own hub as a center of knowledge for the community, professionals, enthusiasts, students and all the athletes and coaches of the national team.
This rings true in the mandate given to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) to “conduct basic and applied research on sports development” and to further this, the presence of research programs and a center for sports-related literature, history, and development should be in the picture.
“We aim for the rebirth of the Philippine Sports Library so we can cater to our scholars, athletes, sports professionals and enthusiasts who may be needing information resources in the field of sports right at the heart of the city. As an educator of sports for more than half of my life, I see the importance of having a repository of knowledge in order to develop sports education and application.” expressed PSC Chairman William Ramirez.
“It is also one way of promoting sports to the community and to encourage the people to let sports be part of their healthy lifestyle,” added Ramirez.
The Philippine Sports Library which is located at the 4th floor of Building A in PSC ‘s Philsports Complex in Pasig City, is a home to more than 2,000 collections of book titles, magazines, journals, and electronic materials published from 2000 up to the present.
There are various types of reading materials available including Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Statistics, Economics, Sports Medicine, Nursing, Business, Law, Education, Physiology, Psychology, Therapeutics, Pharmacology, Pediatrics, Surgery, Home Economics, Zoology, Mathematics, Computer Science, Sports and Recreation, Social Science, Nutrition and Asian History.
“I hope the Philippine Sports Library will become a haven of knowledge for our national athletes and coaches who wish to pursue further studies.” expressed Abigail Marie Rivera, head of the Philippine Sports Institute Grassroots Program Rivera along with PSI officers are planning to turn this hub into “the main resource center for sports in the country.”
The sports library is closed while in General Community Quarantine (GCQ) and may open once Metro Manila is under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ), but only one (1) visitor may be accommodated at a time in compliance with health protocols.
The PSI is planning to put up cubicles, desktop computers and to set-up WiFi routers for the E-Learning Resource Center (ELRC) room where PSC employees, national athletes, and national coaches may be allowed to do online research.
“We are working on finalizing the library’s operations manual and preparing our mid-term plan for this facility. We aim to submit these for approval before December 2020,” added Rivera who is also pushing for the procurement of additional and more updated materials concerning sports science, sports medicine, and sports management and the professionalization and training of Library and ELRC staff.
It is also part of the PSC’s program to include free academic journal subscriptions for students of PSI sports education and training modules and the employees who need the said resources for policy research.
“Hopefully in two to three years, the library will be housing at least 3,000 physical book titles and serving PE students, faculty and academic researchers from private colleges/universities and SUCs,” shared Rivera. (Philippine Sports Commission)
