The Gonzalo Gonzalez Reading Room (GGRR) has spent the past year bringing more of its collection online. Through the ongoing digital cataloguing of its inventory and new donations, the Reading Room’s updated digital database is now accessible through Tuklas, the UP system’s digital catalogue, with 1,427 books currently searchable to readers online.
First envisioned in October 2006, the GGRR began as a small room on the third floor of the Faculty Center, planned by a committee that included Dr. Gemino H. Abad and Dean Virgilio S. Almario (both now National Artists for Literature and Professors Emeriti), Dr. Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, then UP ICW Director Vim Nadera, and College Librarian Reggie Murillo. Through the generosity of Atty. Gizela M. Gonzalez-Montinola, who named the room in honor of her father, the late Gonzalo Gonzalez, a former member of the UP Board of Regents, the Reading Room was later moved to the New CAL Building, set up as a special collection of Philippine literature with the warmth of a lounge rather than the formality of a reading room. Since then, donations from UP ICW fellows, associates, and Filipino writers across generations have steadily brought the Reading Room closer to its founding ambition to become the country’s finest repository of contemporary Philippine and Southeast Asian literature.
The GGRR first joined Tuklas in July 2020. This year, the Reading Room worked with the UP Main Library to update its catalogue, with coordination starting in January 2025 and encoding commencing in May 2025. The catalogued titles are mostly donated short stories, rare books, and older editions. A parallel update through the Buklod Application keeps the Reading Room’s internal inventory and barcoding current.
The Reading Room warmly welcomes students, researchers, faculty, and visitors. Guests may fill out a book slip with the title and author they are looking for, and staff will check availability. Many have been delighted to discover that the Reading Room holds works by National Artists for Literature, including Virgilio Almario, Gemino H. Abad, F. Sionil Jose, Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio, and Bienvenido Lumbera, alongside countless other voices in Philippine writing. A collection quietly growing for nearly two decades is now more visible than ever.
Looking ahead, the work continues and so does the growth. The team is completing the inventory and barcoding of every book in Buklod, and we hope to launch a Call for Book Donations this year to welcome even more titles into the collection. Every new arrival will be catalogued and added to Tuklas, ensuring the Reading Room’s online database grows alongside its shelves. The Gonzalo Gonzalez Reading Room has always been a home for Philippine literature, and now, more than ever, it is open to anyone who comes looking, reading, or simply curious.
For updates and announcements, visit the GGRR Facebook page.
