Barangays urged to establish reading centers

The City Library is urging the different barangays in the city to establish their respective barangay reading centers to help in providing avenues by which the children will be able to hone their reading comprehension and to be updated on the latest developments in the global village.

City librarian Easter Pablo stated that the limited personnel of the City Library are willing to provide the interested barangays with the needed technical assistance to help the same establish their reading centers that could be used not only by the children but also interested residents of the barangay.

She said that the proposed establishment of reading centers in the city’s barangays has been a long-standing project of the City Library but only a few barangays were able to benefit from the said program of the local government.

The city librarian claimed that the put up of reading centers in the different barangays is part of a comprehensive strategy that will allow the children to visit these to read the available reading materials and hone their reading and comprehension skills.   

For barangays interested to start putting up their respective reading centers, Pablo advised the concerned barangay officials to coordinate with the City Library for them to be provided the needed technical assistance on how to effectively and efficiently manage and operate the facility purposely to encourage the youth to embrace reading as a habit.

Aside from the establishment of reading centers in the different barangays to ensure that the same is accessible to the children and those interested in reading, she stipulated that the city library is also encouraging schools to embrace the school-based reading sessions among interested students to be able to bring back the reading habits of today’s youth.       

Pablo admitted that the emergence of social media significantly impacted the reading habits of people that is why it is disappointing to learn that the Filipino students have the least reading comprehension in the Asia-Pacific region.

The city librarian expressed hope that there will be more barangays that will embrace the proposed establishment of reading centers in their respective places to help in bringing back the reading habits of children and empower them to visit such centers instead of exposing themselves to online games, among others.

Pablo asserted that the presence of accessible reading centers in the different barangays will definitely serve as a vehicle to empower students and adults alike to bring back their reading habits because of the presence of quality reading materials for them to patronize. – Dexter A. See