November is almost over, and that means we’re almost done with Library and Information Services Month and National Reading Month. But we have a whole week to go, and what better way to cap this month than celebrating our favorite books?
History of the National Book Week
If you’ve been reading here lately, you will remember I previously talked about the Philippine Librarians Association, Inc. (PLAI). It is an accredited and integrated professional organization for Filipino librarians. PLAI has many significant contributions, such as the professionalization and modernization of Philippine Librarianship. But possibly its most famous piece of legacy that transcends beyond the field of librarianship is National Book Week.
The first National Book Week was held from June 18 to 24, 1934 as a response to the association’s petition. In 1936, President Manuel L. Quezon moved the celebration to November 24 to 30 under Proclamation No. 106. The main objective of the occasion is to arouse widespread interest in reading good books as one of the most effective ways of bringing enlightenment to people and promoting popular culture to Filipinos.
If you’ve noticed that our libraries celebrate National Book Week the same way – that is, with essay-writing, poster-making, exhibits, and library visits – that’s because there used to be a Book Festival Handbook that contained suggested activities for the week-long celebrations.
How to Celebrate the National Book Week
Of course, as the years go by and changes happen, we see libraries expanding these activities. Here are my suggestions on how we can celebrate this year’s National Book Week:
Join or Sponsor a Cosplay Competition for Book Characters
Cosplay competitions are always a huge hit during National Book Week. I have found that parents are super supportive when it comes to dressing up their kids, whether the theme is mythological characters, or book or movie characters. Plus points when they use recycled or indigenous materials, too!
Organize Storytelling and Art Sessions
This one is inspired by the activities during the first Philippine Book Festival, especially Pandayan Book Shop’s art sessions. It brought several children’s book authors and illustrators together for book-based art sessions with kids. It’s great if you can invite an author and illustrator of a children’s book to your event, but it’s still awesome if that’s not possible. You will need to provide drawing supplies for this activity, such as art paper, coloring materials, scissors, and glue.
Buy a Book
One of the greatest ways to help the Philippine book industry flourish is to buy more books created by Filipinos. When I first got involved in the National Book Development Board’s The Book Nook Project, after helping a recipient school catalog their collections, I was so excited to learn that we have so many new Filipino books across genres. Personally, I buy novels and non-fiction from the online stores of university printing presses and children’s books, mostly from Pumplepie Books and Happiness. Remember, every purchase motivates Filipino authors and illustrators to create more books!
Share About Your Favorite Book
There’s no right time to tell the world about your favorite book. Really, you can do it anytime. But National Book Week is when book lovers come together to share the love of reading, so don’t miss out on this opportunity. You can write a blog, post on Facebook or Instagram, or create a YouTube short or a TikTok telling everyone why you love it.
Donate Books to Your Public School Library
Back in the 80s, a report revealed the poor status of Philippine public school libraries. Forty years later, and it’s unfortunately still true. Although we have pretty good, functional libraries, and many public schools are doing their best to put up infrastructure for promoting reading, the lack of school funds allocated for collection development still blocks their ability to transition from established to functional to leading libraries.
Although most public school libraries will not refuse book donations, here are a few considerations when giving away your books:
- Please donate books that have been published in the last ten years. This helps in the currency of their library collection.
- Please donate books in good condition. Although it’s an awesome opportunity for you to declutter, our young people do not really care about old, dilapidated books either. Textbooks and workbooks from private schools with writings on won’t have much use. And if there is outdated information inside the books, they can even pose harm to kids.
- If donating in cash, please course through the Adopt-a-School Program and specify that the money is to be spent for the purchase of library books.
Join National Library of the Philippines Contests
Our National Library holds annual contests for a few months leading to National Book Week. They have fun contests meant for students as well as the general public. The contests change every year, but my favorites so far were the open-for-all photo and cosplay contests.
References: National Book Week
