Tuguegarao City – Staff from the University of Cagayan Valley (UCV) conducted an assessment of the functionality of the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 02 (DSWD FO2) Balai na Inammu, the field office’s learning hub located adjacent to the main building, today, September 24, 2019.

The facility, formerly called the Regional Learning and Resource Center (RLRC), houses the field office’s library materials for information and use by field office staff as well as guests looking for knowledge materials on social welfare.

The UCV evaluators, led by the school’s Community Extension Services Office Director, Ms. Gregoria J. Gocal, expressed their admiration to the uniformity of the materials in the Balai na Inammu, remarking on the usefulness of the materials to the needs of facility users.

In conformity to the use of internet for learning and knowledge transfer, the facility also houses a built-in KOHA System, an open source automation collectively designed by programmers for librarians worldwide for efficiency in cataloging books and for easy access to the inventory of materials that the facility has.

The system was jointly installed by Cagayan State University (CSU) staff, UCV staff and the field office’s Information and Communication Technology Management Section (ICTMS).

The current iteration of the Balai na Inammu had a soft launching last March 20, 2018 that was graced by DSWD Undersecretary for Special Concerns, Camilo G. Gudmalin, this after the facility was reconfigured after it sustained damages from Super Typhoons’ Lawin in 2016 and Ompong in 2018.

The Balai na Inammu was borne out of the commitment made by members of the field office’s Social Welfare and Development Learning Network (L-NET), with members coming from the academe, National Government Agencies (NGAs) and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs).

Regional Director Fernando R. De Villa, Jr. meanwhile expressed his thanks to the continued collaboration within and among L-NET members and hopes the learning materials can be used to further foster education and knowledge transfer along social welfare.

To date, the facility houses 875 learning and knowledge materials, excluding outdated materials for scanning by the field office’s Records Section before disposal. ###