Book Nook empowers Filipinos through literacy, self-expression, and giving back

Events, Features

Book Nook empowers Filipinos through literacy, self-expression, and giving back

By TVN
August 14, 2024
No Comments

In December 2020, Sheeren Sy, a Singaporean architect affiliated with SM Supermalls, initiated the establishment of Book Nook. The idea began when Sy encountered a small, unattended shelf in Australia, where people could share books for free.

_{𝐷𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑁𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑀 𝐴𝑢𝑟𝑎.}

Inspired by this concept, she dreamed of bringing a similar initiative to the Philippines. Recognizing the spirit of “bayanihan” – a Filipino value that emphasizes communal unity and cooperation – Sy envisioned creating a space where Filipinos could share not just books but also their talents.

𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑆𝑦, 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑎𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘-𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑖𝑛 𝑀𝑒𝑙𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒, 𝐴𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑎, 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑁𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑖𝑛 2020.

This open library on the third level of SM Aura is a cozy space that allows visitors to browse a growing collection of over 3,000 books, donate and swap books, and foster a love of reading and sharing while promoting community engagement.

Book Nook is more than just a place of learning; it’s a dynamic hub that sparks interest and curiosity. Extending far beyond its collection of books, it hosts a variety of events and activities catering to diverse interests.

_{𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑒 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑒 𝑍𝑢𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑖 (𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡) 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑-𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑉𝑖𝑐𝑜 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑚 (𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡) 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒 “𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑜𝑛,” 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦.}

_{𝑁𝑖𝑛𝑎 𝐷𝑎𝑧𝑎-𝑃𝑢𝑦𝑎𝑡, 𝑑𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑎 𝐷𝑎𝑧𝑎, ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛’𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 “𝐴𝑛𝑔 𝐴𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑔 𝐿𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔ℎ𝑎𝑖” 𝑎𝑛𝑑 “𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑛 𝑅𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑟”.}

_{𝐴𝑑𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛 𝑀𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑒𝑒 𝐽𝑎𝑦𝑚𝑒 (𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡) 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 “𝑇𝑒𝑛 𝑇𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑠, 𝑇𝑒𝑛 𝐶𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠” 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ (𝐿-𝑅): 𝐵𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑦 𝑉𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑟, 𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑒’𝑠 𝑋𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑎 𝑅𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑠-𝑃𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑁𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑆𝑦 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑁𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑀 𝐴𝑢𝑟𝑎.}

In another initiative, the space provided a platform for solo mothers to connect through a book launch of “Solo, Yet SOLOved,” by Tinette Cortes, a memoir about overcoming domestic violence.

𝐴𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 “𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑜, 𝑌𝑒𝑡 𝑆𝑂𝐿𝑂𝑣𝑒𝑑” 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑇𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑠 (𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒) 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑀 𝑆𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑀𝑜𝑚𝑠 𝐶𝑙𝑢𝑏.

To nurture local talent, Book Nook hosted a workshop led by comic book creator Jamie Bautista, where aspiring artists learned the intricacies of visual storytelling.

_{𝐸𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑒 𝐵𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎.}

Moreover, in collaboration with Camerahaus, the biggest photography retailer in the Philippines, Book Nook organized a VlogCon to equip content creators with essential knowledge. Over 700 participants joined the event.

_{𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑁𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑆𝑦 (𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡) 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐶𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑎ℎ𝑎𝑢𝑠 𝐶𝐸𝑂 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑚 𝑆𝑖𝑎 (𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟) 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑉𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑅𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑂𝑛𝑔 𝐿𝑜 (𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡)}

GMA Network donated copies of the illustrated children’s book “Si Gren, Ang Kaibigan Kong Alien” to SM Supermalls through Book Nook. “Si Gren, Ang Kaibigan Kong Alien” is a companion book to GMA’s TV series “My Guardian Alien,” which is about an alien who takes the form of a deceased woman named Katherine after accidentally crashing to Earth in a pod.