As the considered silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is the country’s embrace of digitization, National Book Development Board Executive Director Charisse Aquino-Tugade admitted that some publishing firms are now embracing digitization and producing e-books.
This was amid the admission of Vibal Foundation Inc. that the publishing industry has already coped and bounced back from the ill-effects of the global pandemic that hit the country three years ago.
“Many of our publishers also offer subscription services. And what is interesting right now or after the pandemic is that there is a growth in writing. In NBDP, what we do is register stakeholders, which automatically qualifies them to receive incentives. Prior to COVID, we had 500 registrants but right now, we have more than 3,000,” Tugade said at the sidelines of the inaugural of the Asian Festival of Children’s Content Circle Philippines on Wednesday at the National Library on TM Kalaw, Manila.
Moreover, she said the number of ISBNs (International Standard Book Number), a unique numeric commercial book identifier that is being purchased and received by publishers, has also grown.
“Before 2020, we had about 6,000 ISBNs which is low. But at the end of 2022, it became 9,000, the highest in the history of the Philippines. This means we continue to create content. Now is the high time to really focus on our own stories,” she said.
She maintained that books would remain in the minds of Filipino children, as they still want to hold reading materials rather than read them from gadgets.
“Filipinos who read ebooks come from or are in the cities where there is a strong Internet connection. But if you go to the provinces with low connections, people there still like physical books. In fact, if you go around the world, there are still bookstores. If it is not a viable product, then it will not be there. Here in the Philippines, we still produce books, meaning, there is still a market,” Tugade explained.
The Asian Festival of Children’s Content Circle Philippines, with the theme “Read!”, in partnership with the Singapore Book Council, NBDB, Department of Education, National Library of the Philippines, International Board on Books for Young People, and the Filipinas Heritage Library, is a reading campaign exploring strategies in building children’s literacy competencies.
Among the activities lined up during the campaign are panel discussions, masterclasses, pitching sessions, networking events, and public activities promoting the creation and appreciation of quality children’s literature and young adults with a focus on Asian themes.