Walt Disney once said, “There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island,” for books carry information of substantial value that, once read by the user, can instill new knowledge. Books also play a vital role in the teaching-learning process; these are used as references when teachers create learning materials for their students, and on the other hand, books are also used by students to better understand concepts and to acquire new knowledge.
Despite its importance, unfortunately, the Philippine public school system has been facing a perennial problem of shortages of textbook materials, and given this situation, it appears that owning a book is a privilege due to the scarcity of resources. Meanwhile, in private high schools, students normally purchase prescribed textbooks every academic year. After completing a grade level, these books are either passed on to their younger siblings or relatives or are simply stored somewhere inside the house, eventually ending up being forgotten.
A book cannot fulfill its purpose of enlightening minds when it is merely stored and made to collect dust, when it could have been used as an opportunity for another person to learn; just like children’s toys wouldn’t be able to fulfill their destiny if they are not played by kids. Our family, the Chua family, realized the importance and value of sharing books with people who do not have the adequate resources to own them, so that they too would be enlightened by these books that once taught us.
Our family had owned an entire set of Encyclopedia Britannica that had been with our family for three (3) generations, and living up to our family’s advocacy, we had decided to donate these books to the University of Caloocan City (UCC) library. In the year 2013, with the approval of the nine (9) Chua siblings that owned the books, the custodian Leonardo Chua made the ceremonial turnover to the UCC, which started the “Share a Book, Bless a Life” program that aims to encourage collaborative action and enlightenment through the sharing of books.
In 2014, a small group of learning advocates at the UCC undertook a university-wide book sharing program inspired by the “Share a Book, Bless a Life” of the Chua family. The UCC effort started as my MPA class project in Nov 23 2014, to a DPA university wide project and by March 8, 2015 the UCC “Share a Book, Be a Hero” project turned over 4468 books to then OIC and now UCC President Marilyn de Jesus. This program at UCC promoted a culture of participation and sharing among students. As a matter of fact, through the gratuitous donations of students and members of the academic community, more than sixteen thousand (16,000) books were successfully collected in a year. The donations, consisting of an array of academic textbooks, fiction, and non-fiction books, are presently stored at the university’s library and have since been enjoyed by the UCC students.
In “Share a Book, Bless a Life,” when a person shares a book, he or she is also sharing a blessing—a blessing of having the opportunity to be enlightened with new knowledge and wisdom. Nothing prevents this advocacy from being confined to the level of a campus such as the UCC; if this culture of sharing blessings through books is done on a national scale, it will benefit many more, such as local governments, communities, local colleges, and universities, and more importantly, less privileged students who cannot afford to buy and own books.
It is with great hope that institutions be inspired and encouraged by our example in UCC to also engage the “Share a Book, Bless a Life” program, for it promotes shares of blessings among students and sends a unifying message that we should be part of each other’s success, one book at a time. Presently the Share a Book project is being supported by the Bless a Life Charities of the Chua family.
(Paul Chua is presently serving as deputy administrator for engineering and operations at the Light Rail Transit Authority. He was a scholar of the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary and finished several international programs such as “Transport Planning” in Israel; “Smart Cities” and the Executive Education program on “Strategic Management of Regulatory and Enforcement Agencies” at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Facebook: Paul Chua)
Originally published by The Manila Times on May 16, 2024.
View the original publication at The Manila Times ↗