HOUSING more than 40,000 books, the Heritage section at the fifth floor of the Central Library formally opened last Jan. 27.
The Antonio V. del Rosario-UST Heritage Library, which is mainly for graduate students, is open to Thomasian and non-Thomasian researchers interested in browsing books from the 15th to the 19th centuries.
The library contains around 30,000 historical books and 10,000 reference books, all taken from the Rare Books, Spanish and Filipiniana sections, Rare Periodicals and the Medical and Ecclesiastical libraries.
Two separate collections for the law and intercultural studies books donated by the family of the late Ambassador Enrique Syquia and the Chiang Ching Kuo Center for Intercultural Studies, respectively, have also been deposited in the section.
According to Fr. Angel Aparicio, O.P., Prefect of Libraries, the Heritage library is the only library in the country that has a general collection of historical books.
“Our library is a general collection of books which our Filipino ancestors have read and studied for their courses,” Aparicio said.
Due to the age of the books, Aparicio said researchers cannot photocopy them. They may, however, request for digitized copies, if available. As of press time, only 250 pages have been digitized.
Aparicio said the heritage library will have funding separate from the Central Library.
“We have allotted a special fund for (the heritage library),” he said. “We will be requiring payment from the researchers but the amount has not been finalized yet.”
The main fund of the heritage library will come from the P10 million that former Amb. Ramon V. del Rosario Sr., the grandson of Antonio V. del Rosario, UST secretary general from 1854 to 1866, donated.
The library has stack and reference areas, a lecture room and laboratories for conservation and digitalization. It officially opened last Jan. 30.
