A
s a
Playtimes
reader, you
probably read for pleasure
and understand that books
and magazines bring real
benefits. However, many people don’t
have ready access to books – particularly
children. It’s a relief, therefore, to learn
about Bring Me A Book™ Hong Kong
(BMABHK), a non-profit organisation
(founded in 2006) that serves children
without access to quality books and
who aren’t read aloud to regularly.
The charity reaches out to these local
kids and families to provide libraries,
bookcases and reading support services.
It also runs training programmes in
nurseries, kindergartens, community
centres, shelters, health clinics and in the
workplace.
BMABHK is an affiliate of Bring Me A
Book™ Foundation, the award-winning
literacy non-profit headquartered in
California. The Hong Kong affiliate was
established by James and Su Chen from
the Chen Yet-Sen Family Foundation.
After their first child was born, James and
Su Chen witnessed the pressures children
face and the lack of a local reading
culture. They recognised that too often
the focus was on test scores, rather than
nurturing an independent, self-motivated
and empathetic thinker – just a few of the
benefits to be gained from reading for
pleasure.
The need to read
According to a global research study,
Hong Kong has the lowest rate of family
literacy in the world. Shockingly, only
12% of parents engage with their child
in pre-school literacy activities (reading
books, telling stories, singing songs),
less than one-third of the international
average. While local students scored well
academically for reading achievement,
they scored lowest (out of 43 countries
surveyed) for motivation, interest and
confidence in reading. Thankfully
BMABHK leads the way in advocating for
family literacy.
“We remind parents to find time in
their busy lives to read for pleasure with
their children – to have conversations
with them, some ‘screen-free’ time and
a few giggles over the books they read.
Not only does reading together help
significantly expand a child’s vocabulary,
imagination and knowledge about the
world, it also fosters empathy, curiosity
and a close bond between parents and
their children,” says Pia Wong, BMABHK’s
Executive Director.
Impact
Over the past 10 years, BMABHK has
installed 350 libraries, serving over 140,000
children in low-income communities.
Qualified trainers run regular monthly
sessions, and have so far provided
20,000 parents and teachers with the
confidence and skills to read aloud
effectively.
“When I came across BMABHK, I
was thrilled to find so many resources
available for free on their website! Every
parent should know where the treasure is.
Since joining their training, my read aloud
skills have improved significantly and
reading has become fun again for both
my daughter and I!” enthused parent Mrs
Lai. Indeed, she was sufficiently inspired
to help start a Facebook book club,
“Reading Makes You Shine”, for parents
keen to encourage every child to be
read to in every family.
To guide parents and educators on
the best kids’ books, BMABHK compiles
a collection of recommended books for
reading aloud, from birth to teenage
years. The lists (available in English and
Chinese and updated every two years)
are a valuable resource, with over
200,000 downloads from the charity’s
website.
Bring on the benefits
The volunteer programme comprises
two main services: book wrapping for
libraries and reading to underprivileged
children. Programme Director, Angela
Leung, said: “We install three-four libraries
each month so we are always in need
of volunteers to wrap books, which helps
protect and extend the book’s shelf
life. We have also trained thousands of
volunteers to become skillful storytellers.
We do encourage donors, especially our
corporate donors who are able to fund a
library, to join our volunteer programme.
Usually we will arrange 10-15 volunteers
to read to around 30 children for each
session, held at our library beneficiary
site. It’s a great way for volunteers to
directly impact the local community
while acquiring new skills and the
children love being read to!”
Read more about bringing the benefits
of books to others at
Gillian Johnston
profiles a charity that advocates family literacy
and spreads the joy of reading to children across Hong Kong.
Books
bring benefits
advice
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