Sentro Rizal DC donates PH history books to U.S. Library of Congress

The Asian Division of the Library of Congress shows its Philippine collection to Embassy officials at the Asian Reading Room, including the only known extant copy of Doctrina Christiana. CONTRIBUTED

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sentro Rizal of the Philippine Embassy donated history books to the Library of Congress to mark the Philippines’ 88th National Book Week on Nov. 24-30.

Charge d’Affaires Jaime Ramon Ascalon, Jr, donated the following books to the Library of Congress on behalf of Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez and the Philippine Embassy:

Quincentennial Catalog: Quincentennial Art Competition and Lapulapu National Monument Design Competition;

Victory and Humanity: The 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines;

1521 Revisited: The Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines, Volume 1;

Remembering World War II in the Philippines, Volume 1;

Remembering World War II in the Philippines, Volume 2;

The Voyage of Ferdinand Magellan by Fernando Oliveira;

The Philippines: History, Geography, Customs, Agriculture, Industry, and
Commerce of the Spanish Colonies in Oceania by Jean Mallat/ Translated by Pura Santillan Castrence ; and

The First Filipino: A Biography of Jose Rizal by Leon Ma. Guerrero.

The Asian Division of the Library of Congress likewise gifted the Embassy with a copy of “Asian Collections: An Illustrated Guide.”

Embassy officers and staff led by Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Jaime Ramon T. Ascalon, Jr. were given a special tour inside the Thomas Jefferson Building and the Asian Reading Room of the Library.

The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world and is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Its collection includes more than 173 million items, which consists of more than 51 million cataloged books and other print materials in 470 languages; more than 75 million manuscripts; the largest rare book collection in North America; and the world’s largest collection of legal materials, films, maps, sheet music and sound recordings.