Release Date : 14 Sep 2012
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. Good morning and a very warm welcome to the National Library Board's (NLB) Charity Book Donation.2. Through the Charity Book Donation, we hope to promote reading among those cared by special needs organisations and welfare homes like Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS) and Jamiyah Nursing Home. Reading may also benefit them emotionally and mentally.
Charity Book Donation's Achievements
3. I am pleased to note that the number of beneficiaries have soared nine times since it started in 1998. This morning, we are delighted to have 91 Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) participate in our donation exercise. They include TOUCH Community Services, Yayasan MENDAKI, Young Women's Christian Association of Singapore (YWCA) that have benefited from the book donation for many years. We are also reaching out to overseas charities such as the Life Foundation that provides books to underprivileged children and teens in the Philippines. We hope that these books would serve as an encouragement to their recipients to grow their reading interests and be lifelong learners.
4. It is heartwarming to know how our recipients have benefited from the Charity Book Donation. An example is Yayasan MENDAKI, a recipient who has been receiving books since the book donation started. In addition to using some of these books for its reading programmes for children, youth and adults, Yayasan MENDAKI also encourages its beneficiaries to set up their own mini library at home. One of their beneficiaries Mdm Norhizah had expressed that her young daughter not only developed an avid interest in reading but is now also able to create her own stories from picture books.
5. Our fellow colleagues and senior management team will be helping to select and pack books for participating VWOs as this is part of our corporate volunteerism programme.
Encouraging the public to participate in the Library Book Sale
6. Over the next two days, we will also be holding the Library Book Sale in which about 300,000 library books will be sold at very affordable prices. So join us with your family and friends where you may find interesting reads ranging from Arts, Cookery to Travel Guides.
Appreciation
7. Finally, I would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsors, Singex Venues Pte Ltd, Yamato Transport (S) Pte Ltd, Lee Foundation, Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple and Gardenia Foods Pte Ltd for their support. I would also like to thank my colleagues for helping to select and pack the books for the charity donation.