Filipinos Still Buying Books

Here's an article from the Inquirer: Filipinos Still Buying Books Despite Tougher Times. An excerpt:

Lirio Sandoval, president of the Book Development Association of the Philippines (BDAP) is optimistic.

"The books coming out now are not only better in content but also in production and design quality."

Bezalie Uc-Kung, executive director of New Day Publishers is also upbeat: "There is a growing patronage for locally published books. A growing number of Filipinos who write and of publishers who publish them are complementing each other."

Add to this are career-boosting incentives given to outstanding Filipino authors: The National Book Awards given by the Manila Critics Circle, Gintong Aklat given by the NBDP, the Philippine Board on Books for Young People's (PBBY) Alfredo Navarro Salanga award, the National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCCA) Writer's Prize, to name a few.

Uc-Kung adds: "What is helping the industry now is the fact that local authors are now standing out. The Filipino perspective--the Filipino way of looking at things, of telling stories, of appreciating history, the Filipino creativity and ingenuity--these make local authors get noticed."

With a vast collection of themes and formats, today's generation of book lovers are luckier. With the marriage of publication and communication technologies, we not only have literature, popular novels, textbooks, magazines, general references, graphic novels, but also multimedia, publisher's technology, audio and e-books. Best of all, there are several platforms where all these materials are available, real or virtual. Book fairs for one.

The Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) is the only internationally recognized book event in the country. The exhibit boasts of at least 300 local and foreign exhibitors that showcase thousands of books and a record of more than 50,000 in attendance in a week."

The book fair is also a haven for teachers and education professionals according to Beth Hashim-Arenas, a college teacher at the University of Santo Tomas: "I encourage my students to go to the fair to buy reading materials that would not only increase their knowledge but expand their interests."

In almost three decades the MIBF not only provides continuous reading awareness to the public but it also has become a business venue where institutional buyers walk alongside bibliophiles, publishers' reps strike deals with booksellers, and publishers promote their authors and artists.

"The book fair is a boxing ring for good competition. Here the exhibitors will showcase only their best. And as in previous MIBFs, this year's promises to be a knockout" says Lloren.

The Manila International Book Fair is scheduled from Sep. 12-16, 2008, at the SMX Convention Center, Bay Area, Pasay City.

Thanks very much to Dominique Cimafranca (author of "Twilight Of The Magi" from the PGS Holiday Issue) for the link to the Inquirer article.