The Cebu City Public Library and Information Center traces its roots to the Cebu Branch Library of the Philippine Library and Museum, now the

National Library of the Philippines The National Library of the Philippines ( or , abbreviated NLP, ) is the Philippines' official national library, repository of information on cultural heritage and other literary resources. It is located in the district of Ermita, Manila, Ermit ...

. It was organized and opened to the public on April 13, 1919, by Guillermo Restun, the chief librarian from the Ilo-ilo branch. The province of

Cebu Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...

took charge of the initial collection and other maintenance and operating expenses. Since its establishment, the

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

has been housed in many different buildings, until in 1938, a dedicated edifice, the Rizal Memorial Library and Museum, was inaugurated. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out, the library was closed. The building was utilized as headquarters by the Japanese Army, and books were either dumped, ruined, or stolen. In 1953, the institution was reopened due to public clamor. The

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...

government appropriated a budget for the library collection and other operating expenses. The Cebu City Public Library and Information Center began 24-hour operations on March 9, 2018, upon the directive of Mayor Tomas Osmeña—the nation's first public library to do so.

References

{{Authority control Libraries in the Philippines Buildings and structures in Cebu City Library buildings completed in 1938 20th-century architecture in the Philippines Libraries established in 1919