Dubious Lexicon: Filipinas Heritage Library - Best Quiet Environment To Study in Makati

Makati City Metro Manila Philippines – If you’re ever looking for a place to study or organize your thoughts and you are like me; someone who can’t stand a noisy and distracting environment, then Ayala’s Filipinas Heritage Library is the right place for you.

My Dilemma with Peace and Quiet – A Struggle to Find the Perfect Sanctuary

At home, I cant even pass sleeping 9AM these days any day of the week, my parents bring in service strangers, their secretary, the maid, construction workers, manicurists, hairstylists relatives the list goes on, not to mention that this alerts our guard dogs prompting people in our house to argue even louder at each other; oh my its really stressful and that’s just the beginning. I can’t even go on a single hour without anyone in our house needing to ask something from me or accessing our study room. I have ear plugs and the more I use it the more they think it’s rude that I don’t respond to people’s prompts in the house.

If you are doing something very important and creative like web development or working on your thesis, the dilemma is you can’t really stand up or be distracted, once you do, you lose your ideas and concentration, and this happens a lot to me at home, the point of locking myself in our study room is to emphasize other people that you need peace and quiet. But oh my, the more you need it the more bothersome attracts you.

Libraries Are Now Lounges to Ignorant People

During my college days, I discovered a secret weapon to find the gates of success to my studies. That is to use the library as a venue to focus. The first time I learned about this technique is when I was in UST in my first year of college in Management Information. I hated UST’s open campus – which for me means I get sun burned a lot just studying in UST. So I tried hanging out in the Library. Then came our course subject “Logical Reasoning”. To cut the story short, I used the library for a whole day to figure out how logical reasoning theories work, and on our next class session while everyone was still having a blanked face, I was answering and figuring out the prof’s case problems on the blackboard to everyone’s amaze.

When I shifted to College of St Benilde I also used the same technique, even if I didn’t have classes on Saturdays I would spend my whole day studying in their library for pre-scheduled exams which helped me deans listed.

But now in my MBA at FEU Makati, I have had the worst times using this school’s library, to the fact that it’s so stressful I get red faced mad dealing with the librarians for the really constant rowdy environment. I even reported their staff once to the dean which I’m sorry to say gave bad face to the staff but it still never changed. But you know.. Maybe it’s not really the staff but the students and their culture of just using the venue as their own air-conditioned lounge. Another backward policy that FEU Makati Issued is that – everyone now cannot use their electricity sockets for computer charging which really prompted me to hate this school’s current management and just decided to look for other venues to study.

The Filipinas Library - A Secret Sanctuary in GreenBelt 5

Who would have thought that there is a Public Library in GreenBelt 5. Ayala’s Museum Facility is just next door to GreenBelt 5, the foot bridge that inter-connects LandMark Department Store and the GreenBelt Malls – Ayala Foundation’s Filipinas Heritage Library also has a door in this walkway.

Fees to Using their Library Services

Ayala Museum - Filipinas Heritage Library members are entitled to the following:

Regular membership (1,000Php)

Unlimited visits to the Ayala Museum with a friend
Unlimited access to the Filipinas Heritage Library (FHL) for the cardholder only*
Free unlimited access to WiFi at FHL
Invitation to Members Only sale at the Museum Shop
10% cash discount on selected items at the Museum Shop all year-round.
Cash discount on all museum-produced programs including lectures, workshops, symposia and family activities
10% cash discount or 5% credit card discount at M Café
Discounts at current partner establishments

Premiere membership (3,000Php)

Unlimited visits to the Ayala Museum with four (4) guests
Unlimited library use for the cardholder*
Free access to WIFI in the library
Invitation to Members-Only sale at the Museum Shop
10% cash discount on selected items at the Museum Shop all year-around.
Cash discount on all museum-produced programs including lectures, workshops, symposia and family activities.
10% cash discount or 5% credit card discount at M Café
Discounts in current partner establishments
Get invites to all the museum exhibition openings

Memberships are good for one year and renewable annually.

* Subject to availability of space. To schedule a library visit, fill out the online appointment form.

** FHL Memberships valid as of November 1, 2012 will be extended by five months in lieu of the period when the library was closed to complete the transfer to a new location at the Ayala Museum.

Other Library Services and Rates:

Research Fees (per visit)

Membership (Annual) - Php 1,000
Per Visit (Student/Professional) - Php 50/100

Photocopy (per page/spread)

Letter/Legal - Php 2/2.25

Printing (per page/spread)

B & W - Letter/Legal - Php 5/10
Color - Letter/Legal - Php 10/20

Scanning (per page/spread)

Contemporary - Letter / >A4 - Php 50/100-300
Rare - Letter / >A4 - Php 100/150-350

Retrato Photo Order (Per photo, VAT inclusive)

Photo - Php 200
Scanning - Php 100
CD storage - Php 20

Other Fees

Himig Reproduction (per song) - Php 30
CD storage - Php 20
Internet Access- PC (per hour) - Php 25
Microfiche Reading - Php 25
Use of Electricity (laptop, etc.) - Php 25
WiFi for Nonmembers - Php 25

Visit their website for more details http://www.filipinaslibrary.org.ph/filipiniana-library/membership

On my first visit I paid P150 for using their facility, P150 is already good enough and worth it for a whole day’s rent of a space and internet that would give me absolute advantage in my academics and work. P150 is my budget as I intend to use their facility as a non-member and use their electricity plug for 1 hour. Paying for the 1 year membership fee for me would be worth it too, especially if I’m intending to use the library once or even more than once a week (a whole day’s worth of usage each time) for the whole year.