COMPILEDBYJAMESHADLEYANDVICTORIAPOLZOTCreatingaNewHomeforBooks
PHOTOS: GET T Y IMAGES; MEL ANIE EGANNEWSWO SHARING
H
ernando ‘Nanie’ Guanlao,
66, wanted to share his love
of reading with his community
so he decided to turn his home in
Makati City in the Philippines into
an informal library.
His literary experiment began in
2000, with a collection of around
100 of his own books. He simply
stacked the books outside his front
door to see whether people wanted
to borrow them. Not only did people
borrow and return them, they began
to donate additional books to the
collection. Today the library has
grown to two million books, which
fill the house’s two levels. Known as
the Reading Club 2000, the libraryis open 24 hours a day, seven days
a week. The library does not have
members or borrower’s cards and no
identification is needed when taking
a book. There’s also no limit on the
number of books borrowed, when or
even if they’re returned.
Nanie encourages the sharing of
books and believes that people are
empowered in their lives in a variety
of ways by having an unlimited access
to books. Reading Club 2000 recently
started a bicycle service library
which distributes books, newspapers
and magazines to some of Manila’s
poorest neighbourhoods. Nanie has
also helped others set up similar
schemes around the country.10 august 2019