National 10 (Spotlight Weekly)

Joys Of Reading

The British Council organizes Book Day celebrations to introduce people to the pleasures of reading

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

These days children spend their time watching television or playing compute games. As they grow up, they are likely to miss the joys of reading books - story books, comics, novels, and so on. In order to inject the attraction of reading books, the British Council in Kathmandu organized a week-long celebration of World Book Day.

UNESCO designated World Book Day as an annual worldwide celebration of books and reading on 14 March in the UK. This day is about helping children to discover the pleasures of reading and books. Last year it was marked in over 30 countries including Nepal. This year the council will be celebrating the event in Kathmandu from 9 -12 July 2002.

Youngers reading books : Discovering the pleasure

"We want the children to discover the pleasure of reading by encouraging them to use books from our facility," said Colin Earley, Assistant Director, at the British Council, Kathmandu. The Council currently has 4000 members and has been serving the public for over 40 years in Nepal. It houses 11,000 books and 30 periodicals. Apart from books, the council also provides a full range of information services including multi-media and internet facilities.

With a view to encouraging children to read, there will be an exhibition of books for children from 5-15 years of age in the Councils Courtyard. There will be a quiz on the exhibited books and Knowledge and Learning Centre (KLC) services. Three winners will receive a free membership to the KLC for a year as well as some books.

There will also be an opportunity for all students from 7-19 year of age to enter the 'Tell Us a Picture" competition. This is a new web based competition developed by the National Gallery, London.† Children between the ages of 7 and 19 years can choose one of three pictures from the National Gallery and write a story or poem about it.† Each week three submissions are posted on the site and there will be prizes from the National Gallery† shop for the best piece of writing in each term.

The winner will also receive a certificate signed by Quentin Blake, the first children's laureate in the UK. All the exhibited books and journals will be in the KLC and will be available for loan for the members from 15 July. Likewise, the council is also organizing short story competition in two categories - children and youngsters.