by Deborah D. Nieto
The National Book Development Board (NBDB), in cooperation with the Malabon City government, opened its Book Fair for the Booklatan sa Bayan program on 26 March 2014 at the Malabon City Hall. Over 60 participants composed of government employees, teachers, and children participated in the event. Spearheading the ribbon cutting ceremony for the book fair were NBDB Deputy Executive Director Camille V. Dela Rosa and Malabon Mayor Antolin A. Oreta III. Dela Rosa welcomed everyone to the book fair and explained the background and objectives of the NBDB’s Booklatan. She also shared the good news that each of the six book fair participants was donating 50 books to the Malabon City Library. Oreta led the ceremonial turnover of books for the City of Malabon. Addressing the community, he placed emphasis on the great importance of books and reading as a lifelong habit. Joining him in the ceremonial turnover was Vice-Mayor Jeannie Sandoval and the participating publishers of the book fair—Adarna House, Lampara Books, OMF Lit, Scholastic, Tahanan Books, and Vibal Publishing House.
The four-day book fair, scheduled at the Malabon City Hall from March 26-28, will move to Malabon National High School on March 29, 2014 to complement the series of seminars and workshops prepared for the Booklatan sa Bayan program. Booklatan is a quarterly project of the NBDB that visits different communities nationwide, tailoring seminars, workshops, and other sessions to each community’s needs. Now on its twelfth year, the NBDB has brought the Booklatan to several cities including Valenzuela, Taguig City, Iloilo City, Cotabato City, and Currimao, Ilocos Norte.
Through Save the Children International, NBDB was able to assess the kinds of reading-related seminars that would best benefit the constituents of Malabon, particularly parents, teachers, librarians, and emerging writers concerned with developing the reading skills of young readers.
The opening ceremony for the seminars and workshops on March 29 will be spearheaded by Mayor Oreta and NBDB Executive Director Graciela M. Cayton at the Malabon National High School. PETA will perform the book “Superwoman si Inay” by Segundo Matias, Jr. An expected 500 invited participants will attend separate simultaneous sessions at Malabon National High School and Malabon Elementary School. These include storytelling sessions for kids 0-4 years old, workshops for students and writers about writing and creating storybooks for kids, lectures for parents and daycare teachers on the role of reading in early childhood care and development, and seminars for librarians on marketing strategies and best practices. Worthy of note, too, is the Reading Series in the Booklatan titled “Literature in the K-12 Curriculum,” which consists of a poetry reading and seminars on highlighting local literature in the classroom and teaching poetry and basic creative writing.
Text and photos from NBDB.
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