Stayin' the Lib

WHEN we were young (it hurts to write this), a John Travolta hit captivated our generation - or at least those who loved to dance.

- JOSE BAYANI BAYLON

“Stayin’ Alive” was a disco favorite, danced with the same arm swings you see being done today, fifty or so years later, albeit to a differently paced tune.

But Filipinos being Filipinos, soon we were singing “Stayin’ the Lib” as a parody, at a time when libraries were critical to the life of an average student - average both in means (the family didn’t have a set of Groilers’ Encyclopedia at home) and intelligence (there was not enough stock knowledge packed into the space between the ears). So the library was a lifesaver, assuming you find the book or reference you need, because someone who got to it ahead of you decided to hide it so no one else could use it. Staying in the library meant learning to navigate the Dewey Decimal Classification system, knowing how to use the index cards in search of the books you needed, and taking copious notes unless you had money for photocopying, which was our way of violating intellectual property at such an early age.

To the diligent, the library was heaven. But heaven shut its doors at certain times of the day, too. And when that happens, one has nothing to do but wait for the next day and hope that the reference material was still there, or that even your favorite seat or table was still unoccupied.