The University of Fiji has expressed delight at the number of book lovers who joined others in municipal parks around the country for the first day of the Recreational Reading in the Park National Campaign yesterday afternoon.
UniFiji Vice Chancellor Professor Shaista Shameem says while they were worried that no one would turn up for the campaign due to its novelty, a surprising number came to the designated parks with their books, water bottles, mats and cushions to read their novels quietly in the company of others.
Professor Shameem says the event showed that there are many bookworms in Fiji who love the idea of reading in public parks with other like-minded people.
She acknowledged the collaboration between the University of Fiji and Ministry of Local Government, along with municipal councils' active support by identifying appropriate reading spaces, provided an opportunity for bookworms to lend their weight to the national reading campaign by turning up in numbers with their mats and books to just read in peace and quiet for a couple of hours.
The Vice Chancellor says the campaign will continue every Saturday afternoon as an ongoing collaboration between local government and the University.
She says the stamp of approval for the collaboration was granted by the Director of Local Government Bindula Devi at the launch of the initiative on UN World Education Day, on Friday at the University's Samabula Campus.
Professor Shameem says the university was intending to work more closely with local government in future because that was where the civic spirit and pride was strongest.
She says local government was where the recreational reading in the park campaign would be most appreciated due to municipal councils' responsibility for maintaining public parks.
The Vice Chancellor says the importance of the national reading campaign to Fiji lies in the connection between reading and thinking.
She says a nation of readers is also a nation of thinkers because knowledge lies in books and without that knowledge, a nation's educational capacity and cultural capital are fundamentally limited.
The Vice Chancellor says hence, UniFiji and Local Government Recreational Reading in the Park National Campaign was designed to start a reading revolution and assist with developing Fijians to their full human potential.
