AYALA Center Cebu joined the global movement to share books, bring people together and create communities of readers with the opening of the Little Free Library (LFL) yesterday at the Level four Garden Area near Fudge.
The LFL adopts the “Take a Book, Return a Book” concept for the benefit of all book readers, bibliophiles, kids and adults alike.
The Little Free Library is a multi-awarded US-based advocacy group that promotes literacy and builds a sense of community that shares skills, creativity and wisdom across generations.
Ayala Malls shares this advocacy by fostering a culture of learning in their malls and providing a venue for it.
The Little Free Library program at Ayala Malls garnered the 2016 Cause-Related Marketing Silver Award Winner by the Asia Pacific International Council of Shopping Centers for enabling diverse partnerships for free book exchanges and promoting the joy of reading and literacy awareness. The opening in Ayala Center Cebu brings the total number of Ayala Mall LFLs to nine with existing locations in UP Town Center, Glorietta, Greenbelt, Alabang Town Center, TriNoma, Fairview Terraces, Market! Market! and The District Imus.
“Ayala Malls shares this view and our network is committed to serve not only as a catalyst for literacy advancement but a catch basin as well for books,” said Dotie Diaz Cleofas, manager, Commercial Business Group, Ayala Land.
“Our Ayala Mall LFL will be a permanent feature to remind people that we are a place too for creative expression and sustained knowledge convergence.”
In Cebu, Ayala Center has partnered with the Youth for a Livable Cebu (YLC). The launch featured arts and crafts activities, acoustic performances and a book swap led by Book Swap Cebu. Shoppers are encouraged to bring their favorite books to share.
“New and creative ideas continue to be generated throughout the world and shared through us,” said Todd Bol, founder and executive director of the Little Free Library Organization. “We are in the Philippines to share these and hopefully raise the level of literacy in the Philippines,” Bol said.
The Little Free Library has been honored in the US by the Library of Congress, the National Book Foundation, and the American Library Association, plus named by Reader’s Digest as one of the “50 Surprising Things We Love about America.”