In September 1979, the PSSC Library was set up to provide documentation and information support for the various programs of the Council (Apilado, 1987). As early as 1973, however, the members of the Philippine Social Science Council saw the need to establish a social science center to provide sufficient facilities and space for PSSC activities and functions. The Council envisioned it to become th
e hub for academic research, information dissemination, and cultural activities in the Philippines and its neighboring countries. Lynch, at an Executive Board Meeting, suggested and explained his concept of the establishment of a Center on January 28, 1974. Hence, the formation of a Social Science Center Committee which Dr. Alfredo V. de Guzman, Fr. Lynch, Dr. Fabella, and Dr. Bulatao (Salamanca, 2006). In February 1978, the former Executive Director, Dr. Loretta Makasiar Sicat together with NEDA, presented a proposal for the construction of the Center to a Japanese Study Mission. In August of the same year, Dr. Sicat and two other members of the Social Science Center Committee, Bro. Andrew B. Gonzalez and Fr. Lynch, presented the project to the then Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines, Kiyohisa Mikanagi. The grant of 1.3 billion Yen or $5.7 million to finance the construction of the Philippine Social Science Center (PSSCenter) was signed on July 16, 1981 (Gonzalez, 1981). During the first executive board meeting on January 21, 1983, an agenda item “name-giving of PSSCenter function rooms”, a unanimous decision was to name the library after Frank X. Lynch (Rodriguez, 1983). The Philippine Social Science Center was inaugurated on May 16, 1983 (Esteban & Rodriguez, 1983). Through the years, the Library engaged in different programs and activities to strengthen its collection and make the resources more accessible to social science researchers, teachers, and students. In order to meet the increasing demands of its patrons, the Library set up several special collection such as the Perla Q. Makil Collection, Ruben F. Trinidad Collection, Conference Papers, and Newspaper clippings in 1987. Aside from the PSSC-funded theses and dissertations, most of the library materials were acquired through gifts and donations to the institution. Furthermore, the Library maintained exchange agreements between foreign and local libraries, organizations, and publishing houses. On the other hand, Weekend Indexing Program and Computerization were prioritized to address the lack of access to the library’s books and journal articles starting 1993. The Library’s new acquisitions were included and published in the Social Science Information for library promotion. In November 1996, the Library began charging P25 as user’s fee to help defray library maintenance and operation costs. At present, all print and non-print holdings of the Frank X. Lynch, S.J. Library are searchable in the online catalog (http://lynchlibrary.pssc.org.ph/). Basic and advance search functions are just some features of the website. In addition to that, selected journal articles from members and PSSC’s pioneers are available and downloadable at the Philippine Social Science Council Knowledge Archive for free (http://k-archive.pssc.org.ph/).
