Books beyond seas, stilt houses: How creatives inspire Sama-Bajau, Tausug kids to read

TAWI-TAWI, Philippines – It takes two flights from Manila to Tawi-Tawi, and another two-hour ferry ride to reach Sitangkai, the southernmost island of the Philippines where most of the structures are built on stilts.

Yet in this remote island exists a thriving library where kids are nurtured to develop a love for reading.

The kids here are from the ethnic groups Sama-Bajau and Tausug. And despite speaking different languages, or some still learning how to read, they understand the story of the books they hold.

“Most of these little kids don’t know how to read yet and picture books allow them to understand stories without reading the text,” said Charisse Aquino-Tugade, the National Book Development Board (NBDB) executive director.

“If they develop that interest in opening a book at this young age, sooner or later, they’ll be reading books with fewer pictures and more text. Eventually, their imaginations will create the illustrations.”

The NBDB brought together a small group of Filipino artists for its first-ever Book Nook Creative Tour to further spark these children’s love for reading.

Held late February in time for the National Arts Month, the one-of-a-kind literary cultural tour brought together a diverse group of authors and illustrators to meet and interact with the children of Tawi-Tawi.

Sitangkai was one of two areas chosen for the creative tour as this particular Book Nook site has performed very well in terms of foot traffic and activities.

It was also one of the first 52 Book Nooks established in 2021 at the start of the project.

“The biggest improvement we had since the first year is the new Book Nook venue, because now, we’re able to have a stable space,” said Al-Raffy Harun, one of the local coordinators for the creative tour.

“We only used to borrow spaces in different areas, so it was a milestone when we obtained funds from a local official to construct a building.”

Promoted by NBDB’s Book Nook Project, which established reading and storytelling spaces in strategic areas all over the Philippines, the tour was an opportunity for creatives to share their love for books and participate in a unique exchange of experiences.

“We thought that this would be a good time to put the creatives and the community back together,” said Aquino-Tugade. 

‘Energy exchange’

For the young bookworms of Sitangkai, the Book Nook is “heaven,” Harun said. 

And with the new site strategically built near the daycare center of Barangay Poblacion, it encourages more kids to visit as it has become accessible.

The creative tour aims to further enrich the experience of the children and the community, with activities such as storytelling sessions led by the NBDB team, drawing activities by children’s book illustrators Beth Parrocha and Danielle Florendo, and a storytelling technique workshop for parents guided by author-filmmaker Jay Ignacio.

“This is not just a creative tour; this is an energy exchange experience for everyone involved,” Aquino-Tugade said.

Parrocha’s session on step-by-step animal drawings from numbers became spontaneous when the children imagined different illustrations.

A mural designed by Parrocha was also painted with the help of the kids, parents, and other participants.

There was even a book arrangement competition for the teens, teaching them how to present literary materials at the Book Nook so that kids would be more enticed to pick up an item and read it.

After the various activities, Aquino-Tugade shared that a 16-year-old girl approached her, saying she wanted to be an author but had no idea how to pursue it.

Florendo also appreciated the children’s drawings, saying she will turn them into postcards, sell them at NBDB’s Philippine Book Festival in March, and donate all proceeds to Book Nook Sitangkai.

A safe space for reading

The birth of the Book Nook Project was initially NBDB’s solution to two problems: one, a declining publishing industry at the height of the pandemic; and two, the unavailability of libraries in communities or the unwillingness of some people to visit existing libraries.

One of the requirements for selecting the pioneer sites was that it had to be a far-flung or underserved community.

“It’s all connected because if there are no readers to demand more books, the book publishing industry will not flourish,” said Daniel Mariano, the OIC division chief of NBDB’s Readership Development Division. 

“Apart from that, we believe that books are instrumental products in nation-building. It gives you the ability to think about concepts from another perspective, think critically, and question things.”

With Book Nook, NBDB wants to create more spaces conducive to reading, hopefully encouraging more Filipinos to integrate it into their lives and develop it as a habit.

“I used to go to a place called Nook and it felt like such a safe space to work and just be comfortable,” Aquino-Tugade shared.

“So we wanted to give that experience to kids and families, and hopefully, we get to do that with this project.”

As of February 2025, there are 113 sites all over the country — 48 in Luzon, 23 in the Visayas, and 42 in Mindanao. New Book Nook sites are on their way, as NBDB applications for Book Nooks are extended until March 7.

Each site has received at least 1,200 books from NBDB which are all Filipino-published, most of which are authored and illustrated by Filipino creatives. 

There are trade books and general references, but 64% of the collections are children’s books. They also partner with independent publishers that produce books in regional languages.

Unsuccessful reading spaces

In the past three years, many Book Nook sites have become successful, but NBDB also admits that some sites fail.

The Book Nook Lakit-Lakit in mainland Tawi-Tawi, for instance, was inactive. 

Cluster coordinator Datu Hussin Jainal Atal, who handles both Sitangkai and Lakit-Lakit, said the main challenge with the latter was the lack of communication with the area coordinator due to the unavailability of cell service at the site.

“The Book Nook was also transferred to the barangay hall due to political tension. Unfortunately, this new site was not conducive for reading and there were no personnel to manage the Book Nook,” he said.

Apart from political tensions, other common reasons for unsuccessful sites include a lack of personnel, low foot traffic, and damaged sites or books due to flooding.

In the few instances he communicated with the coordinator, he learned that half of the books were transferred to Kubang Mandulan Elementary School so the children could use them. 

However, upon the creative tour’s site visit, NBDB only recognized a few books from the Book Nook.

“We now have guidelines and parameters for the selection of new sites. As for the successful Book Nooks like Sitangkai, they become a benchmark for the other sites,” said national coordinator Carlo Ebeo. 

For Lakit-Lakit, we will be transferring the new site to Mindanao State University and Sama Studies Center where it can be more accessible to more readers.”

All for the love of reading

There is no assurance that the Book Nooks all over the country will be sustained.

Hence, NBDB has developed two programs under the project. First is Tuklas Dunong, which aims to conduct online workshops on book and site management to help coordinators and volunteers. Second is Hibla Lokal, where they encourage sites to submit project proposals.

“They learn theories from Tuklas Dunong and apply them by practice through the Hibla Lokal program,” said Mariano.

“We learned that this builds proactiveness among the sites because we had limited funding for their projects, but some sites still found a way to implement their proposals.”

This initiative of some sites showed NBDB that the Book Nooks can be self-sustaining. In Koronadal, for instance, the Book Nook program has become so successful that they have integrated it into their fiesta where they conduct storytelling programs.

In Sitangkai, there are also plans to have local storytellers and publish a storybook of “kata-kata,” folklore of the Sama people. This project aims to document their numerous folklore which only currently exist in oral tradition.

This also supports the NBDB’s advocacy for creating more books in local languages, which would make it more accessible and relatable for the children. Most books in Sitangkai were in English or Filipino, and books in Sinama and Tausug were rare.

While many concrete initiatives or projects support the further development of Book Nook sites, NBDB and its coordinators Harun and Atal all believe that a crucial factor to sustain the sites is to have people passionate about the advocacy and love their community.

“I think it’s essential that we, and the people we work with, understand the significance of education and the culture of reading in the community,” said Harun.

“It’s a privilege to be surrounded by people who advocate for safe spaces for reading and intensifying readership among children because it encourages them to invest in quality education in the future.” – Rappler.com