‘E-gadgets will not kill Malawi’s book reading culture’

From young children to adults, the influence of Internet, television and other communication technologies can be a threat to the reading culture of Malawians.

Instead of people reading books, they are usually absorbed by the Internet, watching television and using other communication technologies to source information.

But Book Publishers Association of Malawi (Bpam) President Alfred Msadala said though this is the case, there is no way e-gadgets will kill Malawi’s reading culture because they are not popular in the country.

Msadala said not many people in Malawi have access to the Internet, television and other e-gadgets, so, there is still hope to resurrect the dying reading culture.

“Consensus efforts to bring back the vibrant reading culture are being done. We are trying to develop our scholars into critical thinkers. Books can store intact information where as there are challenges in relying on e-gadgets. A book is still pertinent and can still stand out from the crowd of numerous communication technologies,” said Msadala.

He said Bpam is ensuring that books are accessible to scholars, thus, they have book fairs for schools that happen at the beginning of each academic year in all the education divisions in the country.

The main aim of the book fairs, he said, is to take the book market right to the door of the schools, so scholars are provided with all they need to get equipped.

Apart from the book fairs, Bpam also took books to arts and cultural festivals like Bwalo la Aluso.

“Bpam has been given a mandate by the Ministry of Education to come up with secondary school text books using a new curriculum that is expected to roll out by producing materials that are pertinent to what is happening so scholars do not have to dwell on communication technologies,” he said.