June is National Book Development Month

Created by Republic Act No. 8047, June is National Book Development Month. We would like to begin by quoting what Clarence Day said about the importance of books. "The world of books," he said, "is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall, nations perish, civilization grows old and die out and after an era of darkness new races build others. But in the world of books are volumes that have seen this happen again and again and yet live on, still young, still as fresh as the day they were written, still telling men’s hearts of the hearts of men centuries dead."

Our education does not stop when we finish college. It stops when we stop reading. There are two kinds of knowledge. First, is knowing the subject; second is knowing where we can find the information we need. That is where books come in. The purpose of having a book development month is first, to make sure that relevant books are published; second, to make sure that they are read by the public. We cannot simply depend on books published abroad. Our role as a people is to make sure that the country keeps up with the times. We have to move forward with the rest of the world, otherwise, we will be left behind. Almost everyone reads newspapers and magazines. But sad to say, not enough people read books. If you ask an intimate friend, "What book are you reading now?" Chances are that you will get a negative answer.

Here in the Philippines, we have a special problem. Yes, we may have a lot of books available in libraries and book shops, but there is very little Filipiniana. Knowledge is knowledge, but it has to be applied under many different conditions. What we need are books written by Filipinos for Filipinos. Only a few days ago, we had the pleasure of attending the book-launching of Celia Diaz-Laurel’s biography of her late husband Salvador H. Laurel entitled Doy. It is more than just the story of Doy’s life. You read the book and you get the feel of the era in which he lived. On June 20, the book Basques in the Philippines by Marciano R. de Borja will be launched at the Filipinas Heritage Library. It is a book published by the University of Nevada. So there are activities during National Book Development Month. We hope there will be enough public support. Incidentally, it is interesting to learn that Icelanders read more books per capita than any other people in the world.

Our libraries do their best to preserve all books. But sad to say, in the next 20 years, most of the books published between 1900 and 1940 will self-destruct. It will be mainly because of the acid content in the paper and the pollution in the air. Books made before the turn of the century were mostly of rag content and preserve well. But after 1900, they shifted to the use of paper of wood content.

The best way for all of us to commemorate National Book Month is to have as many good books in our respective homes. It is the best way of teaching our children to read. Children must be exposed to good books. They learn to read by being in an atmosphere of books.