When Wendy Kopp—who founded Teach for America (TFA) in 1989 after proposing it as her undergraduate senior thesis at Princeton—was the luncheon guest of the Makati Business Club and the Management Association of the Philippines, she did not need to delve into any educational philosophy. All she needed to do was share her personal journey.
Heady from their respective commencement exercises, these fresh college graduates had no time to think holiday, for they knew as early as the last two months of school that a special job awaited them.
That was the catchy slogan of this year’s celebration of World Book and Copyright Day on April 23, an annual event traditionally spearheaded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). It is a day meant to honor authors and literature and to call attention to the need to respect copyright.
March 9 was Public Library Day, the 113th such commemoration—but did any of us take notice? The National Library headed by Director Antonio Santos held a panel discussion on “The Librarians in the World of Copyright.” I hope many others remembered, as it marked the birth in 1900 of the country’s first public library, the American Circulating Library. This eventually led to Public Law No. 1935 which created the Philippine Library, to the Philippine Library Museum, to today’s National Library by virtue of Public Law No. 3477 in 1928.
Was it because the women speakers before him had already said a mouthful that Ateneo University president Fr. Jett Villarin, SJ, chose to be brief as he delivered the closing remarks at the recent launch of the exhibit of the Women Writers in Media Now (Women) at the Ateneo Library of Women’s Writings (Aliww)? In accepting the collection of works of 18 writers spanning a period of 30 years, it was more than adequate for him to acknowledge that “creativity and courage are feminine virtues.”
The next four weeks, close to the end of another school year, offer another opportunity for teachers to expose their students to a chapter of recent history still not properly documented or rendered the importance it deserves in textbooks—the curse of the martial law years, the almost miraculous ascent to power of the woman garbed in yellow, and the phenomenal Edsa Revolution that inspired many other peaceful revolutions in the world.
To this day, 45 years after the fact, I still envy two college buddies, both English majors, for their daring and idealism in choosing the path less traveled. Back then, there was yet no structured outreach program in place for fresh college graduates wanting to make a difference for a year before carving out their own careers.
IF YOU are still able to read this, it means the end of the world did not take place on Dec. 21 as direly predicted—and perhaps anticipated with much dread? And it is a good time as any, having surpassed that obstacle, to look ahead but only after taking stock of how far we have gone in digital publishing.
When Education Secretary Br. Armin Luistro FSC viewed the life-size reading promotion tarp posters of the National Book Development Board featuring celebrities like Iza Calzado, Chris Tiu, and the most recent, Ricky Lee, the first author to be selected, he immediately suggested that Cabinet members also be invited to serve as reading models. If not for the campaign season about to descend on us, that would not have been such a bad idea.
No, I do not have any hard-nosed statistics to measure in any logical or scientific manner how the reading month of November went. But there were heartwarming stories that somehow reassured us that yes, the Filipino continues to read and love books, if only these were made more accessible and within the ordinary citizen’s purchasing power.
AS THE Philippine Book Development Month of November comes to an end, the Department of Education and its attached agency, the National Book Development Board, is undertaking what may be considered a brave initiative.
IF THE National Book Development Board (NBDB), a government agency attached to the Department of Education and created by Republic Act 8047 in 1995 were truly living up to its mandate of promoting and developing the book publishing industry, then it stands to reason that November should be one of its busiest months in the year.
