A library that pays you to read
PEOPLE always ask me advice how to speak or write better and my advice to them is always the same:- you need to read and if you are reading you need to read even more. It is sad and even a crying shame that today in Kota Kinabalu itself this year our landmark Tung Nan Bookstore has closed down and last year another leading bookstore Zenithway formerly known as Penguins relocated in Putatan.
Our public library which was in the heart of Kota Kinabalu and within walking distance of the city residents has now relocated to Tanjung Aru and away from the city centre. Years ago the British Council downscaled its operations in Kota Kinabalu by closing down its library. None of this bodes well for the development of education in Sabah because without cultivation of a strong reading habit in the population there will an automatic brain drain in our state and city.
Having said that it is not denied that there are now more state libraries in Kota Kinabalu namely in shopping centre Suria Mall, Taman Rimba and soon to be opened the impressive reading facility at Tanjung Aru.
It is important to cultivate and mantain the reading habit in the population of Sabah. Reading habits determine the academic achievements of students to a great extent. Both reading and academic achievements are interrelated and dependent on each other.
Students often come from different environments and localities with different levels of academic achievement. Therefore, they differ in the pattern of reading habits. While some students have good reading habits, others tend to exhibit poor reading habits. Academic achievement means how much knowledge the individual has acquired from the school.
A creative and pragmatic education involves the habit of personal investigation. The act of personal investigation requires self~study to be followed by selfthinking and analysis. Self-study, otherwise referred to as reading at one's own accord, requires a habit, which is known as reading habit. Reading makes way for a better understanding of one's own experiences and it can be an exciting voyage to self discovery. “Reading habit is best formed at a young impressionable age in school, but once formed it can last one's life time.
Reading and academic achievement are essential for research workers and educationists to know that every child whether he or she is gifted, average, normal or backward etc, should be educated in his or her own way but if he or she possesses good study habits, he or she can perform well in academics and in every situation. It is the reading habits which help the learner in obtaining meaningful and desirable knowledge. Good reading habits act as a strong weapon for the students to excel in life.
The reading habit is an essential and important aspect for creating a literate society in this world. it shapes the personality of individuals and it helps them to develop proper thinking methods, and creates new ideas. To encourage people to read askmelaws.com is embarking on a library project to pay people to read. We are setting up an online library where members are not only encouraged to read but also to sponsor the purchase of books.
Unlike other libraries that we know this one is unique because you can borrow and read books in the comfort of wherever you are even if you happen to be overseas or on the move. To borrow a book it's very simple and all you need is to click on the icon of the book on the website. It will refer you to a web page where you make your request for the book or any part thereof like the chapter or the pages that you want to read.
When your request reaches the site administrator your request will be processed and the book will be sent to you in digitized form for which you pay lending or borrowing fees. The book is lent to you for a specified period. You cannot copy or download the book because after the specified period is over it must be returned. Something does not sound right here. How do you return a book that is not physical but it is digitised.
Well it's simple you don't have to physically return the book but you use technology to make the book disappear or vanish. A group of computer scientists at the University of Washinton have developed a way to make electronic messages "self destruct" after a certain period of time, like messages in sand lost to the surf.
The researchers said they think the new software, called Vanish, which requires encrypting messages, will be needed more and more as personal and business information is stored not on personal computers, but on centralized machines, or servers. Alright now you have solved all that you need to resolve and are ready to go. However there is one problem. You have a library and a lending system but you do not have any books. How are you going to get the books. Didn't I tell you or maybe I forgot, the books are provided by the members. To be a member you must subscribe for the services.
However being a member entitles you to borrow out or lend books to other members and if other members borrow your books then you get some money. In short this unique library pays you to read books.
Making yourself smart the smart way indeed. The system is also to be used to promote the writings of local authors who need a market for their intellectual writings and we seriously need to develop the talents of local Sabah writers. The project is due to be launched in early 2018.