Library

CSSP Library:A Haven for Critical Learning

 

Based upon the principle of enhancing the academic vigor and critical thinking of the students of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP), a college library was conceived under the term of former Dean, Dr. Zeus Salazar. In the summer of 1993, the library was established.
 
In its early years, the library was known as the Student Center, a place where students gather to freely discuss and debate about contemporary issues, read books, or just simply to be with their fellow students. The Student Center was situated in the newly built air-conditioned CSSP Reading Room at the heart of Palma Hall.
 
The collection of resource materials of the library were primarily donated by the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Association (CASAA) and by the different departments under the CSSP.? There were also books and other materials coming from private individuals, as well as institutions like the Korean Embassy and the Asia Foundation.
 
The year 1996 was a turning point in the history of this young library. The Third World Studies Center Library transferred to the CSSP Reading Room, and hence, the resource collection of the two libraries merged. The joining of the two libraries answered the students' growing appetite for knowledge and information.
 
The Third World Studies Resource Collection is a component of the Third World Studies Center. Aside from being the only one-of-its-kind collection in the Philippines, the Center library also makes available to the public research projects undertaken by the Center?s research staff and its fellows, as well as published researches of institutions within and outside the University of the Philippines.
 
Presently, the Library averages 75-100 daily users. Included in its collection (other than the TWSC Library Collection) are 910 volumes of thesis, 824 volumes of books and numerous journals and other publications.
 
The CSSP Library is still at the heart of Palma Hall and an integral part of the CSSP Education. From the day it first opened, it remains a sanctuary for the free and critical mind.