Launio family

Karen, Rhea, Aida, Esther, Mama, Daddy, Wilbert, Jefferson, Marlon

A Call for Books

(pls. click poster to enlarge)

Dear All,

This is a kind call for books, a call to share in a dream, a call to help encourage reading in our communities, especially the children. It is a small start to a big dream.

We are barely readers ourselves, but we know the value of reading. So we are dreaming of a ministry of putting up a 'public private' or community library where people can read or borrow books, and where children are encouraged to discover the wonder and joy of reading. Apart from the many obvious benefits of reading, the following, in one way or another, inspired us to dream:

1. Books are expensive and not all parents, much as they desire so, cannot afford to buy books for their children;
2. Our provincial and municipal governments, much as they desire to furnish our public libraries, lack the fund to do so;
3. Our University libraries are only for students and alumni;
4. "Filipinos are not book lovers?" (Manila Chronicle, 1987) (Well, this is a matter of opinion, but indeed, relative to the Japanese or Europeans, we can, indeed, be branded as such.) Just as they say we can measure the economic progress of a town by the number of banks in that town, we can probably measure how interested people are with books by the number of bookstores in a town.
5. "One's trash might be another's treasure." For those who can afford books, especially textbooks and children's books, at some point, they might not need them anymore and these books may just be earning dust in the attic. But these used books may be very useful to others. Whoever conceived "Booksale" has done one good thing for the country's readers.
6. Our experience in Japan partly motivated us-- a 5-month kid in church playing with a soft picture book, a town library furnished with all kinds of books for all ages, a private library exhibit where a good Japanese friend brought us, a Japanese mother who is aware of the famous authors of childrens' books worldwide.


Whether interest for books is genetic or cultural, or a racial character or not, it is our fervent desire to contribute a mechanism to encourage our kakailian in the Cordilleras to love reading and enjoy learning.

And so, as the internet resource adviced, "By definition, a library starts with... books! and if you don't have any, you need to get some."

We are therefore starting, by communicating with our blog readers--family, friends and acquaintances-- our dream, and enjoining those who care to share with our dream by considering any of the following:

1. If you have any books of any kind that you think are not being used and you can let go for others' use,
2. If you are working in any school or university where textbooks change every season, and those schools throw old textbooks you think are useful, and still usable,
3. If you have friends, especially foreigners in English-speaking nations who have children, and who may have disposable children's books especially board books, (for our Japanese friends, e-hon board books would be mighty useful as well),
4. If you think there is a good cause in this endeavor, and know private individuals or organizations who give free books,
5. If you have any suggestions that will bring this dream closer to reality,

please give us the favor of sending any information by contacting us at the this email address: ukay2book@yahoo.com or sending the books directly to the following addresses:



for Philippines:
Cheryll C. Launio
c/o Imelda Casiwan
DENR, Diego Silang st.
2600 Baguio city


for USA:
Catalina T. Ballitoc
6709 Hamilton St. Riverdale,
MD 20737



for Canada:
Annabelle E. Banda-ay
222 Balmoral Avenue,
S. Hamilton, ON
L8M 3K7 Canada

for UK:
Winslow B. Casiwan
9B Lanhill Rd., Maida Vale
London W9 2BP England

Alternatively, if you have books but freight cost is too expensive to handle, kindly send us an email with your name and address and we can arrange a collect mail arrangement (possible in US, Canada, and UK i suppose), and in the case of the Philippines, please let us know and we'll see how we can find a way to shoulder the freight cost.

Thank you very much. Have a joyful and blessed New Year ahead. God bless you.

Sincerely,
Cheryll, Marlon and Khane

Khane at 2

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

"How old are you?" "Two." (while raising 5 fingers!)

Siblings

Winston, Winslow, Beveryn, Beverly, Cheryll (from top left to bottom right)