On book day, ‘bookists’ interrogate how to make reading fun

April 23 was World Book and Copyright Day. The day is set aside to promote the enjoyment of books and reading. It recognises the scope of books — a link between the past and the future, a bridge between generations and across cultures.

The day is set aside to celebrate authors, illustrators, books and reading around the world. Established by UNESCO, it is a one-day event, which is marked in over 100 countries across the globe. The first World Book Day held on April 23, 1995. The idea of celebrating books at the end of April originally came from booksellers in Catalonia, Spain, in 1923. This was when writer Vicente Clavel Andres wanted to honour fellow author Miguel de Cervantes, who died on this date in 1616. It is also coincidentally the anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare.

The date is symbolic for world literature. It is on this date in 1616 that Inca Garcilaso de la Vega died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors, such as, Maurice Druon, Haldor K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo.It was a natural choice for UNESCO’s General Conference, held in Paris in 1995, to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those, who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity.

This edition celebrated literature and reading while focusing particularly on the importance of enhancing and protecting Indigenous languages. As a vector of knowledge, books bring people together around a story and a common heritage while revealing their specificities through different cultures, identities and languages. The focus on this topic is fully in line with the celebration of the International Year of the Indigenous Languages.

By championing books and copyright, UNESCO stands up for creativity, diversity and equal access to knowledge, with the work across the board – from the Creative Cities of Literature network to promoting literacy and mobile learning and advancing Open Access to scientific knowledge and educational resources. With the active involvement of all stakeholders: authors, publishers, teachers, librarians, public and private institutions, humanitarian NGOs and the mass media, and all those who feel motivated to work together in this world celebration of books and authors, the day has become a platform to rally together millions of people all around the world.

On this occasion, UNESCO and the international organizations representing the three major sectors of the book industry – publishers, booksellers and libraries, select the World Book Capital for a year to maintain, through its own initiatives, the impetus of the day’s celebrations. The city of Sharjah was selected because of the very innovative, comprehensive and inclusive nature of the application, with a community-focused activity programme containing creative proposals to engage the very large migrant population.

“Books are a form of cultural expression that lives through and as part of a chosen language. Each publication is created in a distinct language and is intended for a language-specific reading audience. A book is thus written, produced, exchanged, used and appreciated in a given linguistic and cultural setting. This year we highlight this important dimension because 2019 marks the International Year of Indigenous Languages, led by UNESCO, to reaffirm the commitment of the international community in supporting indigenous peoples to preserve their cultures, knowledge and rights,” said Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion.

With the slogan, Read – you are in Sharjah, the programme focuses on six themes: inclusivity, reading, heritage, outreach, publishing and children. Among other things there will be a conference on freedom of speech, a contest for young poets, workshops for creating Braille books and tactile books as well as many events for Sharjah’s multi-ethnic population.

The city’s objective is to foster a culture of reading in the United Arab Emirates and birth new initiatives to meet the challenge of literary creation in the area and in the rest of the Arab world.Critical stakeholders in the book chain have argued that the love of reading is one of the greatest gifts an adult can give to a child. They note that reading proficiently helps with schoolwork, as well as widens children’s horizons. It can help readers to understand their own world better, and to explore other worlds.

In Nigeria, a lot of parents often see reading as ‘school business’ — something that teachers are responsible for. Many often argue, “they are paid to teach the children how to read and write.” “But there’s a lot of research that shows the value of reading at home and in the community. Children who read at home with parents or caregivers have an educational advantage that lasts their whole lives. In fact, reading to children helps them develop the language and literacy skills they need to begin formal literacy instruction,” said Peter Rule, Associate Professor, Centre for Higher and Adult Education, and Zelda Barends, a lecturer, both of the Stellenbosch University, South Africa. “Parents, as their children’s first and most important teachers, can make reading fun and inspire a lifelong love of reading. If parents themselves cannot read, others such as older siblings, friends and relatives can play this role.”

They said, “reading routines are important at home. This could take the form of “bedtime story”, reading prayers or verses from a sacred book, or regular weekend reading. Young children often love to hear the same story again and again. This is important for their emergent literacy as they learn how stories work, and how to “read” backwards and forwards.

“Children enjoy singing songs and rhymes and this is a fun activity for reading development too. These allow children to play with words and sounds which is the first step in developing their phonological awareness, an integral skill to develop for reading.

“Reading is difficult but it can be made more accessible if children are presented with opportunities to develop their own texts to read. An example of this could be to write a story with the child and have them read it themselves. Such a text would consist of vocabulary familiar to the child and it would scaffold comprehension of reading. If children are involved in developing their own texts for reading, it becomes a personal and authentic experience based on their own interests and needs. Producing their own texts also gives children a sense of ownership that helps them to take responsibility for the process.”

With plummeting intellectualism among Nigerian youths, which many have associated to the new media, some concerned parents and educationists are afraid that if nothing is done to arrest the situation, the country might in future not have quality leaders to see it through the new world order — Globalisation. Giving voice to this group, Dr. Funmi Iweka, an education consultant, noted that the level of a country’s intellectualism is dependent on the people and a reflection of their educational system.

According to the educationist, “a nation whose citizens pay less interest in reading — books, journals and other materials — and taking part in educational programmes that will end up a lag and a leech to other nations.” He said, “many Nigerians are interested in mercantilism than in intellectualism,” hence the reason they pay less attention to reading without knowing that the latter is the foundation of the former.

Not totally exonerating government for poor funding of the educational sector and inconsistence in policy formulations, which have contributed to the downward slide of reading culture, Iweka disclosed that no country “would go far if its citizens are not reading, and not just reading anything, but reading the right materials.”
While some people put this dwindling on the new media, which has brought a lot of changes in all facet of life, Vice Chairman, Association of Nigeria Authors (ANA) Lagos Chapter, Babatunde Ayo-Vaughan, said, “if reading must be effective, it has to be first accepted as a fundamental culture.”

According to Ayo-Vaughan, what many are reading seems to bastardise good understanding: a reason morals and good virtues have fled. Citing the views of other authors, the ANA vice chair noted that people are not reading as much, when compared to what was obtainable a decade or two ago. He said unlike the past, when all manners of published works are in high demand, the current generation now prefer books that dwell on self-improvement, home/money management and religion, noting that only a handful of people now buy or read books for pleasure, adding that many put the blame on financial constraints and the social media.

Ayo-Vaughan revealed that though people are still reading and have embraced e-book as well as other online materials, “these technological devices have various distractions that distort the concentration of a reader as he/she would have it in the library or in the quietness of his/her bedroom or study room.”

According to him, “human brain thrives on concentration, especially as it helps the depth of reading and thinking, which result to intelligent and qualitative argument as well as creative ideas.”Ayo-Vaughan called all to embrace reading, because it is the best food of the mind and when the mind is not healthy or robust, one might not be able to successfully solve critical problems.

The ANA Lagos executive observed that notwithstanding the harsh economy, those who derive pleasure in reading would buy and read books. He said: “The truth is if you value your brain and mind, which is the best way of adding value to oneself, you will not lose sight of reading. In fact, you would want to read any material, especially those that stimulate the mind. Doing this means helping oneself to nurture the brain cells, organise them for effective use, particularly in the maintenance of good memory and being coherent.” Emeka Nzekwu, a retired school principal, worried about the situation, queried: “Where are the publishers and what types of books do they publish?”

According to Nzekwu, in the 70s till the late 90s, publishers were bringing out different books —textbooks, novels/story books and others — but today, authors have to pay for their works to be published. In fact, authors now play multifaceted roles of being the writer, marketer, promoter and financier. Many of the publishing houses have reduced themselves to printers, pushing the major challenges of their responsibility to authors.

“Many prefer to publish textbooks or any materials that would bring in quick returns because many people hardly buy books if it is not textbooks, religious or motivational or other recommended text. This, on its own, is limiting the scope of books in the market and our local narratives because authors of non-textbook materials would be kept at arms length,” he said.

Nzekwu disclosed that the situation has made some authors to resort to self-publishing all in a way of getting their works read.He disclosed that for the nation to have a sustainable reading culture, there must be flourishing publishing houses to bring out different book genre — romance/erotica, crime/mystery, religious/inspirational, science fiction/fantasy, horror, among others.

The retired school principal challenged publishers to look for better ways to up their games, saying if readers are drifting away from the conventional hard copies, they should as well move to e-books or others online publishing to engage readers, which do not need all the encumbrances of the traditional printing and publishing process.

Not blaming publishers alone, the schoolteacher said authors should be more creative in telling their story and not be in a hurry to make money, adding that the quest for quick money has made many to come up with watery narratives.
He recalled that the Achebes, Soyinkas and other authors of the African Writers Series and others like the Pacesetters Series had in-depth knowledge of their subject matter; they researched and used good language, though some used a little of poetic license for emphasis.He urged publishers to embark on yearly book festivals, inter and intra-school activities around books, as this would encourage people — adult and children — to read and also introduce new books.

He added that the earliest African writers dwelt so much on colonialism and the new religions, Islam and Christianity, while the writers of the 80s and the late 90s talked about new independent African states and ethnic wars, saying current writers should be more creative and also use both the new media and hard copies to tell their stories.

Responding to the question whether people still read, Patron, Lagos State Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Dr. Raphael James, who also doubles as Director General, Centre for Research, Information Management and Media Development (CRIMMD) and Curator, Photo Museum of Nigeria History, said the percentage of people who read compared to the 70s and 80s when there were many libraries across the country, is abysmally low. He put the blame on the general apathy on knowledge, adding that a situation where people with little knowledge are allowed to lead the educated sends the message that reading/education has little value.

Drawing from the experience of running a free library, the Lagos ANA patron disclosed that children/students are reading more than adults, perhaps, because they are still in school and have no other commitments than their studies.

“My experience in the last 15 years of running a free library shows children are even reading more that adults, even though there are many of them that do not even bother to come in to ask what a library is. We have some young intelligent children still consulting the libraries and are reading to gain knowledge. It may not be as much as we had it in the past when reading was taken as fun and one bragged about the number of books he/she had read. But now, many people brag about the number of movies or games they have played,” he said.

Driving home his point, the publishers said a situation where the minimum qualification to be the president of Nigeria is secondary school certificate leaves much to be deserved. He noted that the nation’s failing reading culture is affecting the nation negatively, saying this is the reason literacy rate is 59. 6 per cent when South Africa is 94.4 per cent, Mauritius 92.7 per cent, Kenya 78.73, Rwanda 74 per cent and Ghana 76.6 per cent.

James harped on the need to bring back the books in our schools and communities; open community libraries. On how to correct the situation, the author said there is the need to establish more libraries, improve the budget on education and make the youths to value quality education, adding that people should also stop applauding overnight riches, stop according and selling recognition, honour and titles to people on the grounds of their wealth, as these discourage hard word, integriety and value for knowledge.

The curator disclosed that it is the responsibilty of all, saying parents should complement teachers’ efforts at home to make their children embrace reading. He noted that while parents are desperate to make ends meet, they should monitor what the school is doing with their children, to find out if they are seriously engaging their children in activities that would make them read on their own.

“Another challenge to our not having the expected blooming reading culture is the school. Many are only interested in their fees and not in the educational development of the children, if not, why would a school with pupils/students population running into a thousand not have a library? Schools should engage the pupils/students in competition that would challenge them to read wide, outside their recommended textbooks and through this method would enable the student grow and pick interest in reading,” James noted.

The curator disclosed that at his personal level at encouraging reading and growing reading culture, he runs a free public library and have been buying and donating books to different schools across the country, aside helping to set up libraries, including community libraries.