Hiya 👋 sis…
I had a kool weekend, spent some time in the company of like minds…(lovers of books /reading) at the Jakande-Tinubu Park, in Ikeja, located close to the Lagos State House of Assembly…I know for sure, you would love the ambience.
The event was the first anniversary of Bookworms Arise Bookclub. A social group created for the purpose of enhancing the reading culture amongst youths and almost everyone in this great country of ours.
I was pleasantly surprised to see young adults who are keenly interested in promoting the reading culture and also have flair for reading and are eager to encourage others to go back to the reading culture.
For the sake of clarity, Reading Culture refers to habitual and regular reading of books and information materials. Reading early in life, for contests, visiting the libraries, training teachers who will teach kids how to read, etc., are part of the strategies for developing a reading culture.. With benefits inclusive of longtime memory, vocabulary building, skills/creativity and of course nation development.
For me, challenges of reading culture here in our clime include language barrier, poor economy, poor funding of the educational sector.. With access to the Internet and social media, the reading culture has waned drastically among Nigerian youths and students…It saddens me sometimes when I read some comments online.. To read a paragraph is an herculean task for some with comments like “pls, someone should summarize”, “who is going to read all these”, “I don’t have time to read”, “who reading help”….😒
Most care about how to make money, and in the fast lane of course. Some wish to pattern their lives after that of celebrities or whoever showcase their wealthy status…SMH.
We have a long way to go in enhancing the reading culture, aside provison of suitable reading materials in schools and libraries, one also has to make a conscious effort to read.
I appreciate the pioneer of Bookworms Arise; a young lady, Aanu by name, that has the vision and passion to promote human capital development via reading. Also, to my friend, Akin, who introduced me… big thanks mister. It was a great weekend of fun, networking and meeting people of like minds at the event.
Looking forward to more of it.
I hope to hear from you to know how it is over there.
To our lovely “readers”☺, thanks for having the time to be part of the reading culture…
Additional source: African Journals Online.
2talesisters 
Recently, I was thinking back on the days guys take the pain to read books in order to get the right lines in wooing a lady, those were good days! When u read comments as “please it’s too lengthy, etc…” It just breaks my heart
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Disheartening. Reading books was a contest back then…the more pages, the more “efico” one is…😆
Tee…
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Glad you had a fun weekend hun. For me I know I’ve stopped reading,there’s hardly anytime left in the day but I think joining such social groups as the Bookworms Arise is a great step in the right direction and also a great initiative. I think I’ll actually key into it. 😁
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Lolz…you can’t stop reading ohh….we must partner in that too…😆
Yea, Bookworms Arise Bookclub is a great initiative, you would be glad.
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There’s no gainsaying that habitual reading is the key that opens up opportunities to anyone. Also it’s a well known cliché that ‘readers are leaders’.
The benefits of reading from a tender age are too numerous to count: from personal interaction to business communication; from developing confidence and articulation in speech to learning new life skills and applying them for a better living, the list goes on.
With the advent of the digital age, and smartphones in particular, our reading culture has waned rather considerably, as the distractions afforded by these gadgets, apps, and the rest, have largely made it much more difficult for one to pick up a book and stay focused on its contents.
Since we cannot do away completely with distractions – indeed they’re here to stay- we must find ways to improve our reading culture on a daily basis by integrating technology with books and learning.
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I wholly agree with your assertions. We need a total revamp…
Thanks for being a part of the readers…😊
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Gtbank recently took over and refurbished Lagos State Library along Herbert Macaulay road, Yaba, turning it into a world-class e-learning facility.
Imagine for a second what would happen in Lagos alone if other banks and non-bank corporate organisations adopted other abandoned libraries or built new ones from scratch, equipping them with modern books, internet and other facilities.
Not a bad Corporate Social Responsibility to be involved in.
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Abeg who go read all this? Lol… I guess am also guilty of this but to be sincere Nigeria is not making it easy for the youths to be interested in reading, in this country is not by the books you have read or know, is by who you KNOW! So tell me, how many youths will be interested in reading when der know it won’t yield any good results for them at the labour market. Don’t get me wrong, am not saying reading is not GOOD but most youths will tell you it won’t bring food to the table nor take care of der needs and you can’t really blame them for thinking this way, it’s just so unfortunate that we found ourselves in this kind of society that only support Corruption and…🤐.
You will have to introduce me to this club, it is high time I step up my Game… I have to say am really lagging behind ☺ Nice write up though, I wish everyone can see it the way you see it. Kudos mami
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I get your point mi’lady…. It’s one step at a time and in the right direction if one can have the conscious effort to be better…and change the narrative. If we all subscribe to the fact that reading won’t help us since its a world of “Man know man”, and with this jet age of ours, how then do we develop our young minds and the nation at large?
We just have to try and go back to reading and also promoting educational discuss.
Tee…
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Thanks for coming by Toro. It was great having you.
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Seriously, the reading culture among Nigerians especially the youths is not to be taken likely. This club is just so timely. Parents should inculcate this habit in their children from infancy.
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