Regional project emphasises joys of reading
It may not be a new story, but we still can’t seem to tell it often enough: turn off the TV, kill the computer, ground the Gameboy, and get into a good book. That’s the message of the National Library Service and a well read group of international experts. News Five’s Jacqueline Woods has more.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
The promotion of reading continues at the Leo Bradley Library in Belize City. The activity includes an exhibition on Astrid Lindgren, the well known author of children?s books and lectures by Eva Bendz, a Swedish teacher and publisher of the Children?s Golden Journal.
Eva Bendz, Publisher, Children?s Journal
?The teachers, the parents, the adults that surround the children, the priest of the church, the football trainer, any adult that surrounds the children should make emphasis in the importance of reading.?
Despite the importance, it has been a real challenge getting children and young adults interested in reading, much less going to a library.
Lusiola Castillo, Libraran, leo Bradley Library
?I think right now our biggest fight, if I should call it that, is that children see library as a school libraries. They don?t see it as somewhere where they can recreate, where they can grow by reading, and by widening their imagination. Because through reading you can widen your imagination, you can travel the world without leaving Belize.?
Avid reading proponents like Bendz admit that they have had to become more creative in promoting reading because of all the new electronic technology children now have at their fingertips.
Eva Bendz
?Yes, yes. And I think it is the same situation, the same problem we face all over the world; in Sweden, in Belize, in any country. There are so many other activities going on that they can take part in beside the world of the literature.?
?But I think once we open the door to this mystery garden and once you?ve entered into the fantastic world of literature, you never want to leave it again. You are there for good.?
But just how many of these students will remain committed is anybody?s guess. A number of activities at libraries and at schools have raised the interest. The big question is what is being done at home to assist the children? Are parents too busy to take the time to share a book with their son or daughter?
Eva Bendz
?It?s not exactly what the parents can do, but what reading does to your child. It is important that we as parents understand that reading is important.?
?To read aloud to your son or daughter and there are many good books that calls on the attention of a small child with funny pictures and funny adventures.?
Parents are encouraged to bring their children to the library. Librarian Lusiola Castillo says through the latest the exhibition they hope to pique the interest among the youngest students.
Lusiola Castillo
?So if we start with children, then they will encourage their parents and adults to read for them. And in that manner everybody will be reading more in Belize.?
The reading event will continue through March seventeenth. Teachers, parents and their children are being urged to attend. Jacqueline Woods for News Five.
The activities are in conjunction with the regional project for Central American Libraries and the Belize National Library Service. It is sponsored by the Swedish International Development Agency.
