No idle time in this ‘tambayan’ in Samar

BOOK NOOK Through the “Aklatang Tambayan ng Kabataan,” a mobile library project initiated by the Samar provincial government, children in the province are encouraged to pick a book and read. In this 2021 photo, the mobile library is set up at the public plaza of Catbalogan City. —MICHAEL CRISTOBAL/Contributor

TACLOBAN CITY—Once a week, a provincial government-owned vehicle moves around Samar, carrying books, with titles a mix of English and Filipino.

Its target: To look for an open space where children and teeners hang around.

Once the staff members of Samar Gov. Sharee Ann Tan find a suitable area, they would set up the books and encourage the young people around them to come and read as they please.

This mobile library is the heart of the program called “Aklatang Tambayan ng Kabataan” started by Tan in 2021 when people avoided cramped, indoor places as part of health protocols against COVID-19.

The program aims to bring back the interest of young people in reading, especially those living in remote villages who have limited access to books and othere reference materials.

“We want to bring back the culture of reading to our children and the youth,” Tan said.

The creation of the Aklatang Tambayan ng Kabataan in Samar was inspired by Republic Act No. 7743 which mandates the creation of a library from the provincial level down to the barangays.

Since putting up an actual library can be expensive for Samar, one of the poorest provinces in the country, the governor decided to do the next best thing—deploy a mobile library.

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Clamor

Her staff members usually put up a makeshift library in plazas or any open spaces where the young can freely stay to read a storybook. One of the governor’s staff members will then initiate a free-flowing discussion on what they have read. Sometimes, the activity would last half a day, especially when children would get too engrossed about what they read.

Sometimes, sex education and topics related to reproductive health would be discussed, depending on who would come to take part in the program.

While the project mainly focuses on the services of a mobile library, this took a different form in Barangay Casapa in Jiabong town.

The provincial government decided to put up a physical library in the village’s youth center due to the clamor of children and teens in Casapa, a mountain village located at least 10 kilometers from the town center.

Friam Jabien, Casapa youth leader, is happy that a library is in their midst.

“This will serve as an avenue in promoting and assessing the learning skills of our children and at the same time, cultivate the culture of learning among the youth by opening safe and friendly-reading spaces for children,” he said.

Governor Tan hopes the province will soon be able to build public libraries, especially in remote villages like Casapa.

But in the meantime, the province will continue with its mobile library because educating the youth, local officials say, cannot wait.