OUR ORGANIZATION
Driven by the mutual desire to promote literacy and readership awareness among Filipino children, National Book Store Inc. (NBSI), Anvil Publishing, Inc. and the Reading Association of the Philippines (RAP) launched the Buklat Aklat Mobile Library Project in 1998.  Buklat Aklat is a collection of about 500 books covering the fields of Math, Science, Philippine Literature and Culture that visits public elementary schools, public libraries and barangays nationwide.  The mobile library gives every Filipino child the chance to freely browse and read good books.  The responses from each school visited across the country were really overwhelming since many of them do not have libraries at all.  But due to logistical problems, Buklat Aklat temporarily halted.   It was then revived after National Book Store Foundation, Inc. (NBSFI) was established towards the end of 2004 by the third generation of NBSI's Ramoses.

NBSFI holds the responsibility for the continuous implementation of the Buklat Aklat Mobile Library Project as its acts as the official socio-civic arm of NBSI. The alarming problem of inaccessibility to basic services in education has also prompted NBSFI to venture to other projects that aims to help the underprivileged acquire rightful access to quality education. These projects are not only limited to the mobile library but also has extended to book and school supplies donation programs.

Recognizing its efforts, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the Department of Education (DepEd) and NBSFI in 2005. DepEd assists the Foundation in the implementation of its programs to public schools. DepEd has also enlisted NBSFI as one of their partners under its Adopt – A –School Program.

In 2006, NBSFI has also acquired accreditation from the Philippine Council for NGO Certification (PCNC). PCNC was established to certify non-profit organizations that meet established criteria for financial management and accountability in the service to underprivileged Filipinos. Certification by PCNC is a "seal of good housekeeping" that funding partners and prospective donors may consider in their choice of organizations to support. In addition, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) recognized NBSFI’s effort to contribute in the upliftment of the poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged sector of our society.
 

We aim to make Filipinos love books and we shall develop readers by making books more accessible to the people who need them the most.
 

• To assist underprivileged children acquire rightful access;

• To encourage reading, especially among public school children;

• To promote reading and its importance to the development of nation by exposing young children to a wide selection of reading materials;

• To foster reading as a lifelong habit among Filipino children;

• To provide a venue for reading through mobile libraries and reading corners in the schools and barangays; and

• To help build up-to-date, fully stocked libraries in public schools especially in underserved areas in the country.

Buklat Aklat is a collection of about 500 books covering the fields of Science, Math, Philippine Literature and Culture that visits public elementary schools and other impoverished learning centers nationwide, giving every Filipino child the chance to freely browse and read good books. The mobile library also provides activities such as storytelling, author or illustrator talks and even teacher and parenting workshops on reading. Since then, the mobile library has already visited close to a hundred schools and learning centers benefiting more than a thousand kids.
 

Started in 2007, the Buklat Aklat Leave Behind Library is an off-shoot project of the mobile library consisting of a similar collection with that of the Mobile Library. This library has more reference and reading materials such as the Book of Knowledge, almanacs, dictionaries, novels and other awarding winning literary materials. Unlike the Mobile Library, the Leave Behind Library is permanently donated to a chosen scholastic
institution. Children can now enjoy longer access to good quality reading materials.
 

This project aims to reach more underserved areas with a creative means of acquiring knowledge through reading. The Buklat Aklat Mobile Library Cart Project aims to deliver the “wonders” of reading books to far flung barangays, by creating a make shift reading area where the community children can gather and experience the benefits of reading.
 

Last November 2006, NBSFI has launched it’s first-ever book raising campaign involving the NBS community. The campaign was aimed at encouraging all NBS patrons to purchase books as donations which were turned-over to different public scholastic institutions for their library start-up. Because of its success, NBSFI and NBS will now adopt this project on a yearly basis hoping that more customers will participate to help more children realize their dream of having good reading books within their reach.
 

Patrons of National Book Store Inc. can now directly help public school children realize their dream of having a well-stocked and updated library in their schools by buying B.A.M. marked products. What makes it possible for National Book Store patrons to directly help in this project? The answer is that part of the proceeds from the B.A.M products goes directly to NBSFI to fund more Buklat Aklat Libraries for public schools nationwide. The more B.A.M. products you buy, the more mileage you give Buklat Aklat to reach less fortunate readers in the country.
 

Since 1998, the Buklat Aklat Mobile Library Project has benefited close to 1000 schools all over the country. With the birth of NBSFI and its projects, several education-related groups have been assisted–from public schools, libraries, barangay daycare centers and other civic and non-profit organizations. These were all carefully chosen to ensure the organization’s line of thrust. For soliciting organization(s), a letter of inquiry must be submitted to NBSFI. This will help us evaluate the amount of support we can extend.

Click on the icon to open a word file on the solicitation guidelines.