MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) has launched the Library Locator Map to encourage reading among school children by making it easy for them to find the books they want.
The library locator map, hosted by CartoDB, is a web-based map viewing tool that aims to help in locating national and local reading centers. The map can be accessed using this URL, bit.ly/LibLocatorMap.
DepEd has registered 9,855 public schools with libraries. Of these, almost 9,000 have been mapped. There are 188 library hubs in DepEd division offices nationwide.
Education Secretary Armin Lusitro said the map would “help every child foster love for reading” by knowing where to locate the reading resources.
He also urged the public to take part in fostering the love for reading by donating one new book per year.
“Every child should have access to books to help them continue reading,” Luistro said in Filipino.
“Reading enriches the soul. Every child has a story bursting in his or her heart. The problem is, it’s never been written; it’s never published, because no one cares to listen,” he said.
Luistro said he hopes every elementary and high school graduate would be able to write his or her stories.
“Our libraries’ goal is to help every graduate write his or her own story, a story that is welling up in his or his heart,” he said.
The agency recently launched the “Balik Eskwela: Tuloy ang Basa, Ipakita ang Sigla,” wherein students and teachers in public schools will have reading and writing sessions.
DepEd urged the public to send their feedback to action@deped.gov.ph to improve the data and information on the school library map.