Filipino Friday #4: Let's talk about Diverse books

Do you think we have enough diversity in the books that we read? Are our choices enough to satisfy our different tastes? Are our writers able to present the variety of people, culture, lifestyle, interests and so on? How diverse are your reading interests, and are you able to find enough books to satisfy your reading needs? Do you think we need more diverse books?

 Among the topics in this year's Filipino Friday, this one on diverse books struck me the most. One, I had a difficult time answering the questions. Two, I really don't want to answer the questions. Not yet. And three, despite reasons one and two, my answer to the last question, do you think we need more diverse books, is a resounding YES.

We live in an archipelago. We have seventeen regions and a hundred more languages. The diversity in every province put together in one map is as tasty, sweet, colorful, and varied as halo halo. Yet, what I have been reading either comes from abroad or from Manila. Pitiful.

So I am leaving this topic here. Four unanswered questions that I will be bringing to my sleep. I don't know if I will get answers when I wake up. These four questions echo to me as a librarian. Because, really, if we have an effective, efficient and functional library system in the Philippines, I would be able to answer these tough questions.

Yet, I hope.

Perhaps.

Perhaps.

Perhaps.

These four questions I'm putting on the parking lot would inspire me to search for answers soon enough.