It’s April, and we’re celebrating National Literature Month! Throughout this month, we shall be honoring writers and scholars of Philippine literature. So, why not grab a novel from a Filipino author for your next beach trip? Now, if you’re like me who isn’t going out of town anytime soon, here are some ways you can take part in celebrating the Pambansang Buwan ng Panitikan.
Buy Books from Contemporary Filipino Authors
First and foremost, we must support our writers and illustrators – even if it’s not National Literature Month. There are many great literary works by Filipino creators that you can easily buy from online shopping platforms. For example, Aside from National Book Store and Fully Booked, you can now find Adarna House, UP Press, Ateneo Press, UST Publishing House, San Anselmo, and Avenida Books on Shopee.
Why should you buy books from our contemporary authors? If the book industry is lucrative, authors, illustrators, and publishers will be encouraged to keep creating books. More people will be encouraged to write, and our body of literature will increase.
Read more: The Perfect Tree – Children’s book talks about the environment for kids!
If you must know: In Iloilo City, the government plans to have a public library in each district!
Encourage Your Local Government to Allocate a Book Fund for Your Public Library’s Budget
For Philippine literature lovers like you and me, collecting books has become much easier thanks to printing presses selling on online shopping platforms. Now, we don’t have to go to physical bookstores and universities to get a copy of the latest literary releases.
But how about the larger part of the Filipino population? For most Filipino families, buying books is not in their list of priorities. Public libraries are here to serve our underprivileged population, so that they, too, will have access to resources that are available to the smaller chunk of society. But sometimes, the books that should be important to Filipinos are not being read by Filipinos.
Many public libraries rely on donations, and based on my experience, most books being donated are second hand textbooks from the United States. While these are useful, especially for students, these are not books we read for leisure. Good news is the Philippines has a very rich literary culture. However, the books are not reaching their intended audience: Filipinos.
You can help improve this situation by advocating for your public library to your local government. You and your friends can organize a signature campaign encouraging the council to increase the library’s funds for purchasing Filipiniana resources. While this does not guarantee an increase in funding, this act could let your LGU know that there is adequate public support for the library. Who knows, maybe if you get a considerable number of signatures from the voting population, the government might listen.
Well, I founded my NGO, advocacy group Bata Ako Ph for this – Glory Moralidad
Volunteer Your Time for a Storytelling Session at a Nearby Public School
In 2018, we’ve all heard about the Philippines ranking the lowest in terms of reading comprehension in the Program for International Students Assessment (PISA), among others. This has driven the Department of Education to pay attention to reading and implement initiatives like Brigada Pagbasa and the National Reading Program. Because of this, the department is fast tracking the publication of storybooks written and illustrated by teachers and non-teaching personnel.
Storybooks are a great tool for students to gain interest in reading and stories, and most schools welcome volunteers who wish to conduct storytelling sessions.
In my experience, storytelling sessions are not just useful for elementary school students. Even junior and senior high school learners find them engaging. Of course, you have to choose a story that is appropriate to the reading level of the students you will be catering.
Yep, this is us from Bata Ako Ph again!
Donate Philippine Literature Books to Your Nearest Public School Library
Pardon me if my bias is showing, but please donate books to your public school libraries. The sad reality is many public schools do not have libraries. Those that do do not have relevant and up-to-date resources. Like public libraries, public school libraries rely on donations, since they do not have funding for buying books.
Because of this, public school libraries do not have control over the kinds of books they have in their collections. That’s why you can find obsolete and worn out textbooks and encyclopedias. As such, learners do not find joy scouring their school library’s shelves.
So, if you have resources that they can read just for fun – novels and novellas, comics, manga, storybooks, and others – please consider donating them to the school library. This simple act of sharing books for leisure and entertainment will greatly help young people love reading.
(Now that we’re at it, you can further help by encouraging our representatives in the Congress and our senators to include funds for public school libraries in the annual budget in order to implement DECS Order No. 6, s. 1998.)
Join a Book Club or Start One in Your Locale
This has been a dream of mine for quite a while. Back when I was a public school librarian, we established a book club. That didn’t just help boost the library’s patronage but most of our members are still actively reading today.
There are so many things a book club can do. It can organize book launches of homegrown authors, which can boost the writing culture in the locality. Members can also write reviews of local publications. It can partner with the local library in conducting different activities like fundraisers and storytelling sessions.
Write Your Story!
Finally, why not write your own story? Why not contribute to the rich body of literature in our country?
You may ask, what are you going to write? Honestly, anything! I’ve heard several people lament about people reading “trashy” novellas instead of the classics. I don’t know about you, but I’m not ashamed to admit I was an avid reader of Precious Hearts Romances when I was in high school. Yes, I successfully transitioned to reading “better” books. But I attribute my love for reading and writing to those books people call garbage. I mean, our school didn’t have a library and PHR books were all I could afford as a teenager. Plus, you’d be surprised at the beautiful plots in many of these novellas. Everyone starts somewhere, and in my book, whatever gets a person to read is a good book.
The good news is that there are many opportunities to get people to read your work nowadays. Some start out at Wattpad. Some post their poems on Instagram or Twitter. Some go the traditional publishing route. And some choose to self-publish.
So maybe your story doesn’t win the Salanga or a Palanca. So maybe your story flops big time. So maybe your story doesn’t even get published. What matters is that you wrote.
