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Public libraries take part in ‘Let’s Read Together for 10 Minutes’

Posted on 24 April 2014

MIRI: Pustaka Miri and its partners joined about 1 million others
nationwide to take part in a record-breaking ‘Let’s Read Together for 10
Minutes’ (Jom Baca Bersama Untuk 10 Minit) programme with the Council
of Directors of Public Libraries Malaysia.

All public libraries in
the state participated in the event held simultaneously from 10am based
on the Earth Hour concept held successful every year.

Held also
in conjunction with this year’s World Book Day and World Copyright
Programme, the main objective was to instil an interest in reading among
the people.

Assistant Minister of Early Childhood Education and
Family Development Rosey Yunus, Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau, and
Pustaka Miri manager Salina Zawawi were among those who attended the
programme. Others included government officials, community leaders,
teachers and students, and two local writers – Jaya Ramba and Sudan
Ajang – whose books were launched as part of the event.

Rosey
meanwhile commended Pustaka Miri and others for holding the event,
saying that reading would open up new horizon for advancement in life.

“Readers
can also travel the world through their readings. They can also feel
the happiness and sorrow through the characters in the books they read.

“A
reading society, which must start from a young age, augurs well for
Malaysia to become a progressive, industrialised and developed nation,”
she said, adding that village headmen, for example, could play a role by
setting up modest reading corners in the village to encourage fun
reading.

Salina meanwhile said that based on the books borrowed
from the library (Pustaka Miri) the reading habit among the people here
was still rather low.

“Last year, 149,428 books were borrowed from
Pustaka Negeri (Kuching) while in Miri it was 120,452, a very small
figure taking into account the population.

“Library membership too is very low in the state – 102,133 – including 24,151 in Miri,” she said.

Salina
said the reading programme was part of ongoing programmes to encourage
the reading culture and the sharing of knowledge among the people.
Several other programmes were also organised and last year alone Pustaka
Miri held 160 events to encourage knowledge sharing among the people.

Among
them were ‘Friends of the Library” specifically for students,
‘Knowledge Sharing with Youth Icons’, ‘Youth Community Works’, ‘Memoir
Kemerdekaan’ and book exhibitions.