Book truck instils interest in children to read: PTS

PUTRAJAYA: A book publisher, PTS Media Group, has come up with an idea of having a 'book truck' to instil the habit of reading among the young generation.
It was introduced since early last year with a five-tonne truck, which has been going to schools in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor under the 'PTS Book Gang' programme.
PTS Event and Exhibition sales manager Nahddatun Nisaak Othman said the book truck contained 600 book titles and could accommodate 50 students at a time.
The aim is to bring the books and other reading materials closer to the students, especially those in schools that are far from bookshops, she said.
Since the project started, she said, the truck had been to the rural areas in Sabak Bernama, Selangor.
"We went following a request from the teachers as the school has no bookshop nearby … the children were so excited with the presence of the book truck," she told Bernama.
Nahddatun Nisaak said since the PTS book truck was introduced more than a year ago, it had been to Perak, Negri Sembilan and Malacca and would be in Johor next month.
Following the encouraging response from schools, she said PTS had provided four more trucks for the purpose, each with 300 book titles, which included comics published by PTS.
"Our comics are written in proper Malay and the contents are suitable for learning," she said, adding that for fiction novels, such as thrillers, prior permission would be obtained from schools to bring the books.
Nahddatun Nisaak said the PTS Book Gang also carried out various activities at schools visited by the book truck, such as writing and comic workshops, origami and colouring.
Schools which are keen to invite the book truck to their premises can contact the PTS Book Gang through its Facebook or Instagram. — Bernama