Instilling the culture of reading among children.

 That is the goal of the project of the National Book Development Board (NBDB).

Last November 25, 2021,a total of 52 Book Nook sites were launched by NBDB in Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

Priority for the project? Indigenous people’s communities and inaccessible areas.

 An article in The Manila Times said “The Book Nook provides beneficiaries a safe space to hone their reading skills and a wide selection of books and reading materials in English, Filipino, and other local languages.

We are hoping that through this Book Nook project,we will further strengthen and enhance nation-building and cultural empowerment while we offer a reading center to families located in Indigenous communities and inaccessible areas. These spaces also serve as a resource for children,their parents and teachers i n order to reinforce their critical reading and writing of their own stories,” NBDB chairman Dante Francis Ang ll said.

For Charisse Aquino-Tugade,NBDB executive director: “The Book Nook is a project that we envision to provide more access points to our creations so that people all around the Philippines are able to read their own books in their own languages and look at their own culture and see their own experiences.

            Book Nook also aims to make books as accessible as possible so that local publishers can have their books be read by more people aside from having a culture of reading,as well as writing and creating. They are also inclusive spaces for everyone — for kids and kids at heart — to nurture their love of reading,The Manila Times article said.

 The Department of Education (DepEd) through Education Secretary Leonor Briones supported the campaign and encouraged every Filipino to be a reader.

Secretary Briones explained that the Book Nook project will complement the libraries and reading centers existing in highly populated areas,as the project prioritized establishing sites in isolated areas in great need of access to books.

She hopes that the Book Nook project will help parents and teachers in encouraging students and children to read literature from different regions.

Reading is really very important for according to Francis Bacon,British philosopher and essayist, “Reading maketh a full man.”

By: Lovella Montilijao-Jarobel, Ed.D | SSHT III | OLONGAPO CITY NATIONAL HIGHSCHOOL | OLONGAPO CITY