Living A Purposeful Life: The man who turned his home into a public library

 

If you put all the books you own on the street outside your house, you might expect them to disappear in a trice. But one man in Manila tried it - and found that his collection grew.

The man who turned his home into a public library

By Kate McGeown BBC News, Manila
 
Hernando Guanlao , known by his nickname Nanie, has set up an informal library outside his home in central Manila, to encourage his local community to share his joy of reading.

The idea is simple. Readers can take as many books as they want, for as long as they want - even permanently. As Guanlao says: "The only rule is that there are no rules."

In the 12 years he's been running his book club - he's found that his collection has grown rather than diminished, as more and more people donate to the cause.

Guanlao started his library in 2000, shortly after the death of his parents. He was looking for something to honour their memory, and that was when he hit upon the idea of promoting the reading habit he'd inherited.

So he put the books - a collection of fewer than 100 - outside the door of his house to see if anyone wanted to borrow them. They did, and they brought the books back with others to add to the collection - and the library was born.

The library is not advertised, but somehow, every day, a steady stream of people find their way there.
 

Guanlao gave up his job and is surviving purely on his savings - to maintain the library and to grow his idea by partnering with other book lovers in other districts.

 



Nanie Guanlao's story was featured on the BBC World Service programme Outlook.

 Listen via i-player or browse the Outlook podcast archive.

BBC News - The man who turned his home into a public library


 Link:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19547365

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Literacy in the Philippines

The Philippines has one of the highest literacy rates in the developing
world

Approximately 93% of the population 10 years of age and older are literate

Filipino (based on Tagalog) is the official national language, English is the language of government and instruction in education

Source: US State Department


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