History of the Ateneo de Manila
The Ateneo de Manila University (Filipino: "Pamantasang Ateneo de Manila") is a private research university in Quezon City, Philippines. Founded in 1859 by the Society of Jesus, the Ateneo is the third-oldest university in the Philippines.
The founding of the Ateneo de Manila University has its roots in the history of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) as a teaching order. The first Spanish Jesuits in the Philippines, Alonzo Sánchez and Antonio Sedeño, arrived in 1581 as missionaries. They were custodians of the "ratio studiorum", the Jesuit system of education developed around 1559. Within a decade of their arrival, Sedeño and the Jesuits had founded the Colegio de Manila ("Colegio Seminario de San Ignacio") in the historic core of Manila, Intramuros, in 1590. The Colegio formally opened in 1595, the first school in the Philippines.
Rizal Library
The Ateneo's main library was first located in the Ateneo campus in Intramuros, Manila. Fathers Vicente Jiménez, S.J. and Jacinto Lloven, S.J. collected books and started a library. Supported by the Ayuntamiento (city government of Manila), the first Ateneo library in Intramuros served its purpose effectively for over four decades. In 1921, when the school administration passed to American Jesuits, the Ateneo library was briefly under the care of Fr. Edward Duffy, S.J. Fr. Walter J. Claffey, S.J., was appointed its first director. Claffey officially established the library in the Intramuros campus's "Salón de Vistas," which was later called "Rizal Hall." Fr. Walter Meagher, S.J. became director in 1922 and two years later Fr. James Moran took over.