To promote literacy and reading, the Davao City Library and Information Center (DCLIC) will organize a city-wide contest in line with National Book Reading Month.

Arniel Enoc, the Bookmobile and Disaster Education Mobile In-Charge of DCLIC, said in an interview with Davao City Disaster Radio on Wednesday that a storytelling event and a character parade will be held for public and private schools to observe the National Book Month in November.

“Ang atong activity ana is naa ta’y book character parade nga ang mga contestant ana is ang mga daycare center nato diri sa siyudad sa Davao. Aside ana, naa ta’y story telling contest pud ang atong mga contestants nga mga public schools ug private schools (Our activities include a book character parade where the participants are the daycare centers all over Davao City. Aside from that, we also have a storytelling contest where the contestants are from public and private schools),” he said, adding that those eligible to join the storytelling event are students from Grades 1-4.

Enoc added that before sending invitations to public schools, they will ask for approval from the Department of Education (DepEd) Regional Director to conduct a district-level elimination. Winners in the district level will compete at the DCLIC, and the top three finalists will then face the winners from private schools.

He said a meeting with daycare centers for the Character Parade was also held on October 2, 2024.

DCLIC Librarian Elmer Amarillo, also present in the DCDR morning program, said that interested private schools may write a letter of intent to the DCLIC head so that they will be provided with the mechanics of the contest.

The finals for both the Character Parade and Storytelling will be held on November 29, 2024, at NCCC Victoria Plaza.

Amarillo said they seek to conduct the main event inside a mall as part of their promotion for the DCLIC and to encourage Dabawenyos to patronize the city library.

The library’s operating hours are from 7 am to 7 pm. In addition to physical books, the library offers e-resources such as e-books and high-quality articles. It also provides an IT room and an E-Government feature to help clients connect with government offices online. CIO