The Department of Education (DepEd) is promoting the love for and habit of reading through the institutionalization of libraries in every school. School libraries and library hubs serve as a reservoir of adequate and varied quality supplementary learning resources (SLRs). SLRs shall be made available and accessible to teachers and learners in order to create a pervasive reading culture and the environment in public schools. As a result, learners and teachers will develop the ability to use these resources efficiently and effectively as tools for learning and teaching.
In the roll-out of the K to 12 Program in relation to R.A. 10533, DepEd's provision of learning resources needs to evolve to respond to the new curriculum. Textbooks and other supplementary learning resources for public school use need to be aligned with the new curriculum.
Moreover, many school divisions, with the help of the local government units (LGUs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and with the provision of leaming resources by DepEd Central Office, have already established Library Hubs in compliance with DepEd Order No. 75 s. 2008 entitled Institutionalization of the Maintenance and Operations of Library Hubs. However, there are still some Library Hubs that have not yet been provided with learning resources. Thus, there is a need to purchase learning resources for these Library Hubs in order for them to serve the learners and teachers.
As one of its mandates, DepEd through the Bureau of Learning Resources (BLR) shall formulate policies, standards, and guidelines on the design, development, evaluation, production, and utilization of learning resources including their acquisition, allocation, procurement, and equitable distribution across all levels in the organization. Thus, this policy is formulated to set the guidelines for the purchase of SLRs for public school libraries and library hubs Batches 7 and 8.
DepEd Order No. 35, s. 2019 (DOWNLOAD)