PH Consulate General in Calgary Donates Philippine Books to Airdrie Public Library

Consul General Zaldy B. Patron (3rd from left) turns over books from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts to Mr. Dan Nelles, Chair of the Board of Airdrie Public Library (APL).  Witnessing the donation are Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown (2nd from left) Airdrie Deputy Mayor Tina Petrow (leftmost), Ms. Catherine Buchanan, Vice-Chair, APL Board, and Ms. Deb Cryderman, Director of APL.  (Photo Calgary PCG)

CALGARY 26 January 2024— The Philippine Consulate General in Calgary recently donated to the Airdrie Public Library (APL) 16 books from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). 

Consul General Zaldy B. Patron turned over the books to the Chair of the APL Board, Mr. Dan Nelles, on 19 June 2024. 

The book donation was held after the signing of partnership agreement between the APL and the Knights of Rizal-Airdrie Chapter. Under the agreement, a meeting room in the new APL building will be named after Dr. Jose Rizal and is expected to be completed in June 2025. 

The Philippine books that APL received are about Dr. Jose Rizal, Philippine history and culture, and Philippine literature. 

The Consul General Patron stated, “some of these books are special publications of the NHCP and NCCA”. A few of the books donated are written in Filipino language.

Among the books donated is “The Filipino: A Biography of Jose Rizal” written by Leon Ma. Guerrero, a Filipino nationalist, diplomat, and novelist. Two novels of F. Sionil Jose that have been translated in Filipino—”Mga Mapagpanggap” and “Aking Kapatid, Aking Berdugo”—are also included in the donation. Mr. Jose is a National Artist of the Philippines for Literature. 

“I invite the people of Airdrie who are interested in knowing more about the Philippines and the Filipino people to read these books at the Airdrie Public Library," Consul General Patron remarked. 

There are estimated 2,745 Filipinos in Airdrie based on the 2021 Census of Population of Statistics Canada. END

A stack of Philippine books that are now available in the Airdrie Public Library. (Photo by Calgary PCG)

Some of the Philippine books that the Philippine Consulate General in Calgary has donated to the Airdrie Public Library. (Photos by Calgary PCG)

For more information, visit https://www.calgarypcg.dfa.gov.ph.