Calgary, 25 January 2024 –   The Philippine Consulate General in Calgary recently donated to the Airdrie Public Library (APL) sixteen (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 Mr. Dan Nelles, Chair of the APL Board on 19 June 2024.

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

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

“Some of these books are special publications of the NHCP and NCCA,” said Consul General Patron. A few of the books are written in Filipino.

Among the donated books is “The First 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 part of 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 an estimated 2,745 Filipinos in Airdrie based on the 2021 Census of Population of Statistics Canada.