LIBYourself: Transforming Lives Beyond Library Walls through Resilience and Advocacy

Abstract

Libraries transform lives through people, purpose, and sustained service, regardless of physical infrastructure. This poster presents LIBYourself, an advocacy program of the University of the Philippines School of Library and Information Studies (UP SLIS) Library. Developed and implemented despite the library’s displacement and the absence of a permanent building for over seven years, LIBYourself demonstrates how libraries remain vital catalysts for development even in the face of long-term infrastructural limitations.

The program is grounded in three pillars: Love, which fosters self-awareness, empowerment, personal growth, and well-being; Inform, which ensures access to resources and knowledge for informed decision-making; and Broaden, which creates inclusive avenues for lifelong learning, capacity building, and community engagement. Shifted from a space-centered to a human-centered service model, LIBYourself advocates for the library’s role as a resilient force for empowerment. Through services like workshops, research consultations, and partnerships, the initiative directly reached over 2,500 participants and contributed to key UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This initiative offers a practice-based framework for libraries globally facing displacement or societal challenges, proving that when librarianship is resilient and user-focused, a library’s transformative impact thrives beyond its physical walls.