Daily Times

Civil society organization Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA), Centre for Education and Consciousness, organized a daylong festival celebrating Libraries and books in schools at the Children Library Complex (CLC), Lahore in collaboration with the School Education Department (SED), Government of Punjab, and CLC 24 incredible open libraries have been established under the Pakistan Literacy Project (PLP); the best practices were shared on November 30, 2021.

The festival celebrated the 24 dynamic libraries set up in the primary sections of government schools in Lahore (12) and Bahawalpur (12) districts where more than 1200 books from 19 publishers have been made available to support the joy of learning and back to school campaigns during the COVID-19 pandemic. These modern libraries established under PLP, in partnership with Room to Read and in collaboration with SED Punjab, help children connect with literature while also promoting reading habits among them.

The libraries for learning festival was well acknowledged by the Chief Guest was Minister for Social Welfare and Bait-ul-Maal Punjab Syed Yawar Abbas Bukhari and Special Guest was SED Special Secretary Dr. Suhail Shahzad and ITA Chairperson Dr. Narmeen Hamid. They appreciated ITA and CLF’s efforts in providing modern open libraries as a wonderful avenue to the children of Pakistan for improving their reading, learning and creativity. “A free mind builds the foundation of a strong society. Schools are our centers of excellence; children should be encouraged to read and write stories,” the minister added.

The SED special secretary also requested the teachers to not make the children just read books. “Make them read stories and teach them the art of storytelling. They will eventually be able to write books,” he said.

Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Saadia Sohail Rana was also present along with other dignitaries who thoroughly enjoyed the read aloud, paired shared readings sessions as well as theatre and puppets, magic show, arts and crafts and renditions of children’s songs by the legendary musician Sohail Rana.

With many storytellers including the famous actor Nadia Jamil, Atif Badar from Karachi and Vicky Zhuang Yi-Yin from Olmopolo Media, the day saw the grounds and halls packed with children actively participating along with their teachers in parallel sessions across six locations of the venue and the grounds. More than 3000 children (5-18 years) enjoyed interactive learning, the joy of accessible innovative libraries along with activities for climate change and environmental preservation.