How did I become a librarian and a Blogger?

How did I become a librarian and a Blogger?
Melcichon
Oct. 9, 2014
One afternoon, I went to the Benzon’s Hall in UP Diliman. And I read a notice on its bulletin board that the UP Main Library was looking for a Library Assistant. I applied, although I knew that I had no library science background All I had was my frequent visits to the library to read books either for my assignments or for my passion on reading. I was then enrolled for my degree in fisheries. Fortunately, I was accepted.
By then I was a working student at the Narra Residence Hall as a helper in their dining room. During mealtime, I would scoop rice to the buying students. That’s all that I did, aside from mopping the dining room after supper period. My duty was from 5-7 p.m.
I informed the Secretary of Miss Marina Dayrit, then the University of the Philippines University Librarian, of my situation. I was told to resign at the canteen, but I begged not to leave the canteen until after I received my first salary as a library assistant. I did not like to resign as a working student because at the canteen I had free breakfast, morning and afternoon merienda or snack, lunch, and supper, from Monday to Sunday. I worked for only two hours a day, from Monday to Friday. So immediately after I got my first pay, I resigned as a working student in the canteen. And you know how much I earned per month? P120.00! But then at that time the price of one bottle of Cook was only P0.10, repeat ten centavos and the jeepney fare was also ten centavos.
But later on, I realized that I could not be promoted to a higher position if I do not get a degree in Library Science, although I already had my fisheries diploma. So I enrolled for my second degree, BSE major in Library science and minor in English at Manuel Luis Quezon, Manila.
And since I was a U.P employee I had free tuition fees. So after taking up the BSE degree, I enrolled for a Master in Management degree at the University of the Philippine in the Visayas, now UP Visayas, Iloilo City. By then, my family and I had moved to Iloilo City because it is near Aklan, my home province.
While I was taking up my master’s degree in management, I was recommended to take up a diploma course, Post Graduate Training Course for Information Science Specialists in Southeast Asia, in UP Institute of Library Science, Diliman, Quezon City which could be credited to the Master in Library Science degree, also at UP.
I enrolled for that one year diploma course. It was sponsored by the United Nation Development Plan in collaboration with National Economic Development Authority, National Science Technology Agency and UP. It was a memorable moment not only because I was on study leave with full salary, plus allowance from the UNDP, My classmates were from China, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Korea, Malaysia, Fiji, Singapore, and the Philippines.
Later I was given a chance to study at the Universiti Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia for one month.
After graduation from my MLS degree, I went back to UPV, Iloilo City and continued my Master in Management degree.
Since I took management subjects as cognates for my MLS degree, I used the 12 management units for my Master in Management degree in UP Visayas, Iloilo City. That was possible because all the management subjects that I took were all taken in UP System. That means, I earned 12 units for two masters degrees.
In between these studies, I wrote a lot of poems, essays, and short stories. I also entered in different literary contests, and won a lot of medals and awards including a national award from Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL) and a first prize for my poem, A Letter, in the HomeLife poetry contest. Later, my colleagues called me as the Father of Aklanon Literature because I wrote a lot of my winning pieces in Aklanon, and have compiled a lot of poems, short stories, essays written by Aklanons. I also conducted poetry writing workshops both online and off-line. Later I published some of my works in books and in journals. I also published three anthologies of Aklanon poems written by Aklanons, the first time for Aklanon literature.
But book publication is costly.
Thanks for the advancing technology.
Now, with the advent of the internet and in the popularization of the blogs, I tried my hands on it. This is where I started publishing my literary works in the internet. With the help of a friend, I created a blog in blogspot.com.
What is a blog? A blog is a “perfect medium to express and share your views, opinions, and interests, primarily to educate the readers. Hence, it is necessary that we build the interests of the readers to attract them to your blog.” So what I do is to update my blog as often as possible—at least once a day.
Some earn money through the blog. They coordinate with the Google wherein they post advertisements in the blog, and for every click of each of the advertisements in the blog is an income for the owner of the blog and that of Google. Much better if you buy a domain wherein you can get as many advertisements as you can.
On my part, I do not earn directly from my blogs. What I earn is my happiness from knowing that a lot of people read my works.
One of my blogs is Dawn to Dawn (http://anahawleaf.blogspot.com/), my literary blog. As of this writing, there are 39,754 views and growing. But my most popular blog is my Aklanon Rhyming Dictionary which, as of October 9, 2014, has 438,996 views (http://aklanonrhymingdictio.blogspot.com/)
My other famous blog is the Aklanon Literature where I post the literary works of Aklanon writers. It was through this blog that my popularity as a writer has spread throughout the Philippines.
If someone searches Aklanon literature in yahoo or in google, my name appears first. My other famous blog is Bueabod, which is a literary blog for Aklanon literature after the closure of geocities platform. A platform is a venue wherein one can create his/her blog. Some blogs are free but others are sold.
Aside from happiness that I get from writing and from the number of readers who read my works, I also get invitations to attend to literary activities and other gathering like being asked to serve as a resource person in creative writing workshop. I also serve as a judge in literary competitions.
My works are being studied by students in literature from different colleges and universities like Aklan Catholic College, De la Salle University, University of Sto. Tomas, University of the Philippines Visayas, and many more.
But not all are good for being a blogger.
Some people might be irritated on what you write about. So be careful.
This brings us to the Code of Ethics for Bloggers. I got this from the internet.

Be honest and fair.
Never plagiarize
Never distort the content of the photos
Never publish an inaccurate information
Maximize harm
Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by blog content
Recognize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves, unlike the public officials
Show good taste
Be cautious about identifying juvenile suspects, victoms of sex crimes and criminal suspects before the formal charges are filled.
Be accountable
Bloggers should admit mistakes and correct them promptly
Be wary of sources offering information for favors. When accepting such information, disclose the favors.