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Lack of reading culture put in spotlight
2006-09-06 09:22:40
By Michael Haonga
Limited availability of books, prevalence of idle minds, poverty and illiteracy were some of the factors cited by a cross-section of participants to the ongoing National Books festivals in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
The said factors hinder the country from evolving an appreciable reading culture, according to the interviewed education stakeholders.
The available reading materials remain in the bookshops and at libraries, hardly do ever people read,doing so only for answering examination questions, they said.
’Unlike in many countries, here you will hardly ever find anyone reading a novel while on transit using public service vehicles or trains,’ Publishers Association of Tanzania (PAT) Executive Secretary, Aristaric Lyimo said.
He said serious minds that read seems to be a few privileged people in Tanzania.
’It is worse in the rural areas where there are no libraries and prospective readers are too poor to afford buying books,’ he said.
PAT trade promotion officer Matoha Dumeha said:
’Though our reading culture is wanting we are struggling to reverse the situation by availing reading materials at affordable prices.’
Children’ Book Project of Tanzania assistant training and co-ordinator Gervas Nyunga said his organisation understood the immense challenge of creating a reading culture in the nation.
Book Development Council of Tanzania and Tanzania Book Support Trust representatives called for more lobbying on raising awareness on the importance of reading.
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