TheUniversity of the Philippines Institute of Creative Writing(UP-ICW) recently offered its Philippine Literature collection for free online browsing amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

On June 15, UP-ICW announced on Facebook and Twitteran initiative called Freelipiniana:MalayangPagbasasaGitnangPandemyawherein it offered itsonlinelibraryof Philippine orFilipinianaliteratureand attached links to thefree archive andthe introduction page.

Para samalayangpagbabasasagitnangpandemya! the post read.

In its introductory statement,theUP-ICW said that thegoal of this project is tobring these materials, which are mostly unavailable in digital format, closer to readersas they cope with the global financial and economic crisis.

As libraries continue to be inaccessible due to COVID19, the peoples access to reading materials remains limited. This is especially true forFilipinianaselections which are prized for their cultural and intellectualvalue butare largely unavailable now because many have not yet been digitized and opened for online access,the statement read.

TheUP-ICW also hopes to encourage literacy and make education accessible through published literary texts such as novels, zines, poems, books and anthologies.

Through theFreelipinianaOnline Library, the LIKHAAN: UP Institute of Creative Writing aims to collect and uploadFilipinianaworks to allow readers to consume these local texts from the safety of their homes, be they for leisure or research. We want to encourage literacy and make education accessible even while the pandemic limits many of our essential activities, it said.

It alsostated thatFilipinoauthors and publishers of the featured works volunteeredfor this projectcurated by Filipinos for Filipinos.However, these selections cannot be printed, reproduced, or sold without permission.

Uploaded works may be read on the website, with some available for download. While these materials are accessible, they cannot be printed, reproduced, or sold without permission from the author/owner, the statement read.

On the archive page, selectedworks of fiction, non-fiction, poetry,and childrens literatureare accessibleto read and download for free.Those under drama and graphic literature, meanwhile, will be made free soon.

Libraries, museums and other leisure or recreational places are still not allowed to reopen during the relaxed general community quarantine phase.

However, before May ended, the National Task Force against COVID-19 allowed their gradual resumption at reduced capacity which started on June 7.

Since strict lockdown measures were imposed last March, big digital libraries such as Scribd, JSTOR andScience Direct offered a part of their large databases for free access during the duration of the pandemic.

As of writing,somecontent onScribd, JSTOR and Science Directcan stillbe accessed for free.

READ:You can now access digital libraries JSTOR, Scribd and Filipino creatives works for free. Heres how.

Meanwhile, UP-ICW recently announced that the website went down over some technical issues butis now up and running.

The website is back up and running! Well keep working to prevent similar incidents in the future. Thank you for your patience. Feel free to check out theFreelipinianalibrary now, it said on Facebook.

UPDATE: The website is back up and running! We'll keep working to prevent similar incidents in the future. Thank you for

Posted by Likhaan: University of the Philippines Institute of Creative Writing onMonday, June 15, 2020

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Freelipiniana: UP Creative Writing department shares online library of Philippine literature to public - interaksyon.com