A state university teacher taking part in a textbook review suggested that the authors consider an ebook version. The recommendation was not just prompted by observations that undergraduates now seem to prefer to take photos of pages rather than borrow or buy a book.
If ebooks, which are cheaper than traditional books made of paper, were more accessible, will we finally become a nation of readers?
In June 2007, in an iReport on Literature and Literacy produced by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Juan Miguel Luz pointed out that “the problem of nonreading lies at the heart of why the Philippines is so uncompetitive in the world economy and why so many of our people continue to live in poverty or barely escape it.”
In “A nation of nonreaders,” Luz, a former education undersecretary, disclosed the results of the Philippine-Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI), an oral test determining a student’s reading ability, which was administered to elementary schools in the Division of Manila during school year 2003-2004.
The reading test scores showed that “over one-third of elementary graduates were identified as ‘frustrated’ readers; another one-third were ‘instructional’ readers.” Frustrated readers “commit multiple types of errors in oral reading” and “withdraw from reading,” as defined by the Phil-IRI. An instructional reader “can profit from instruction.”
Luz reported that “only one-sixth to one-third of pupils can read independently at the desired grade level”.
Reading skills are basic for survival and lifetime learning. As a skill, reading “requires the development of a habit that must be exercised daily if it is to be retained and enhanced”.
There is more cause to worry since, in the 2017 National Book Development Board (NBDB) readership survey, “only one in 10 Pinoys borrow books from libraries”. According to an Oct. 3 article in “The Philippine Star,” 37.74 percent, or the majority of the 1,200 adult Filipinos aged 18 years and older who were interviewed nationwide for the survey, prefer to buy or borrow books.
The 2017 NBDB readership survey does not explain if the low prevalence of book borrowing from libraries was due to choice or lack of knowledge of local libraries.
There are 1,416 libraries affiliated with the National Library of the Philippines (NLP); however, there are few libraries at the city level, with the numbers dwindling at the municipal and barangay levels.
Public libraries are important resources for creating and sustaining a habit of reading. The 2017 NBDB readership survey showed that aside from the readers buying or borrowing books, 33.98 percent of the respondents received books as gifts.
For many Filipinos who cannot prioritize books in their budgets or have relatives or friends who present them with books, a public library represents a free or affordable resource to make reading a regular habit.
Another study is needed to evaluate the books and other resources available in libraries. “(I)n order to develop a reading habit, schoolchildren need books that tell stories in an interesting manner while developing a broader vocabulary,” wrote Luz. “Textbooks, which are more lesson-oriented, lack the imagination that children need to develop the reading habit.”
Many initiatives have been taken to boost reading, such as the Cebu City Government’s support to operate the Cebu City Public Library on a 24/7 basis or reading literacy advocacies carried out by civil society groups, such as the Basadours.
Public and private partnerships must be explored to tap other ways to make reading more attractive to Filipinos, such as converting literature and academic references to ebooks and translating popular fiction in mother tongues and making these available online.
Wiring libraries can draw more citizens to congregate in social hubs where reading can be promoted, along with other activities that enhance literacy, survival, and lifelong learning.