Ambode approves competition to boost reading culture

Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has approved the LagosReads competition to improve the reading culture among residents of the state.

A statement yesterday from the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr Obafela Bank-Olemoh, to announce the ‘Books-ofthe-Month’ for August, said the state-wide competition would hold its maiden edition in October 2018.

LagosReads, which was officially launched in June 2018, is an initiative of the Lagos State Library Board to not only improve the reading culture of Lagos residents but also reward them for reading.

Bank-Olemoh explained that books-of-the-month were literary works carefully selected by the Library Board for Lagos residents to read on monthly basis as part of the LagosReads initiative.

According to him, “We will announce books to be read by different categories of the public every month. We enjoin book clubs and school libraries, as well as public and private libraries across the state to encourage their members to read these books in order to participate in the periodic LagosReads competitions.”

He mentioned the books for the month of August as The Making of Nigeria by Constance Omawunmi KolaLawal and The King and the Colony by Olasupo Shasore for the junior and senior categories respectively, while readers in the adult category would read White Lagos by Pelu Awofeso.

He added that only members of book clubs, school libraries, and public and private libraries registered on the portal were eligible to participate in the periodic quiz competition.

Participants in the competition have been grouped into three categories: the Junior Category for pupils in primary schools, the Senior Category for secondary school students, and the Adult category for persons older than 16 years. “Each category has a book for every month,” Bank-Olemoh said.

Only the junior and senior categories would be competing in the maiden edition of the competition in October this year, though readers in the adult category would participate in the monthly online component of the competition starting from August.

“Winners will receive prizes worth up to N250,000, depending on their positions in the competition. There will also be consolation prizes for other participants. We have introduced all these incentives to make reading more fun,” he said.

The competition will also reward four readers monthly with airtime worth N20,000 for answering correctly questions posted on the LagosReads Facebook community.