Click on the poster to read the schedule of activities.
"Read Pinoy!" is the theme of this year's celebration of Philippine Book Development Month (PBDM), which has been moved from June to November to coincide with National Book Week (NBW). Check out the new, much improved website of the National Book Development Board (NBDB) for more information about BDM. See the PLAI-CVRLC blog for more about the NBW contests on the theme "Ang Batang Palabasa Dalubhasa sa Kultura," which sounds good but doesn't quite make sense in English (The child who reads a lot is an expert on culture). November is also Library and Information Services Month (LISM). For a list of all activities related to LISM, please visit the PLAI-STRLC blog.
It is rather unfortunate, however, that there does not seem to be much evidence of synergy or cooperation between the different groups behind PBDM and NBW/LISM. It is also quite revealing that while the themes of the different activities occasionally use Tagalog words, all the promotional materials are primarily in English, which suggests that the activities are focused on English books and directed to Filipinos who can read English. Not that there's anything wrong with that (this blog, after all, is written in English), but when the adjectives "Philippine" and "National" are used with the word "Book," it implies that books in all Philippine languages—not just English—are part of the activities. Then again, government documents are primarily in English and the medium of instruction in public schools is English. Maybe it's a chicken-or-egg problem. But that's another post altogether.
