Collaboration key to improving literacy - Malaysian Booksellers Association president

From Syamsiah Sahat

SHARJAH (United Arab Emirates), May 19 (Bernama) -- Collaboration among stakeholders is the most powerful instrument in improving reading literacy among the society, says Malaysian Booksellers Association president, Keith Thong.

Thong, who is also University Book Store Malaysia group managing director gave the example of the Reading Seeds programme, an initiative stemming from a collaboration between child psychologists, edtech (education technology) companies and publishers.

“The programme was aimed at instilling positive reading habits during a child’s early developmental stages,” he said when appearing as a panelist in a session titled ‘New Business Models’ at the International Booksellers’ Conference here today.

Reading Seeds is one of the reading programmes included in the National Reading Decade 2021-2030 (the NRD programme) which is the Malaysian government’s initiative to promote good reading habits that aim to increase the rate of early childhood reading and to make Malaysia a reading nation within the next 10 years.

Thong also praised the Sharjah Book Authority's (SBA) efforts in organising and hosting the first international booksellers' conference which he said would bring magnificent returns and dividends.

He pointed out that the conference was very helpful in supporting those involved in the book industry, and must be extended to ensure the book industry remained viable and that bookstores continued to operate.

“When a bookshop closes, education and learning will cease, leading to gaps in knowledge and information,” he said.

In the same session, Akshaya Rautaray, the co-founder of the travelling bookstore and library in India also told of his experiences in organising India’s Walking Book Fairs, which proved the role played by booksellers in changing people’s lives.

“For children who have never seen books, let alone can afford to buy one, the joy of holding a book and leafing through its colourful pages for the first time is an experience that just cannot be described. As booksellers, we may not be able to change the circumstances they are in, but we can fight back with something stronger, through books and knowledge,” he said.

Rautaray said the bookfair which was founded in 2014 in a small town on the country’s East Coast, has since travelled 35,000 km across 20 Indian states taking books to people, besides hosting author interactions and reading sessions.

Organised by SBA on the sidelines of the ongoing 13th Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF), the world’s first international booksellers conference gathered more than 200 booksellers, distributors and publishing professionals from the Middle East, South Asia and Africa.

The two-day forum to discuss current and emerging trends shaping the future of bookselling also offers the opportunity to exchange best practices, present their titles and explore new market opportunities in a series of ‘matchmaking’ sessions.

-- BERNAMA