The Department of Education (DepEd)’s partnership with various private sector organizations like SM Foundation not only through the Adopt-A-School program but also through book donations has contributed to the improvement of the learning environment. This translates to higher achievement levels especially in the provinces as shown by the results of National Achievement Test (NAT), an annual examination given to public school students nationwide to determine the achievement levels, strengths and weaknesses.

Among the intervention programs of DepEd geared toward the improvement of key performance indicators in basic education, the Every Child A Reader program and the provision of one book each for every student in core subjects are the programs that benefit most from SM Foundation’s book donation program aptly called “Donate-A-Book” a mall-based project.

The devastation wrought by the recent typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” did not spare public schools and libraries whose reading resources were drenched and rendered unusable. Thus, SM Foundation will distribute the more than 8, 500 assorted books, magazines and references that comprise SM Foundation’s warehouse inventory of Donate-A-Book project collection as of Oct. 6 to schools to be determined by the DepEd in Marikina, Sta. Rosa, Laguna; Pasig, and Quezon City that were affected by typhoon Ondoy.

This year’s Donate-A-Book project collected 172,400 reading and reference materials, including sets of encyclopedia and dictionaries from SM mall shoppers, donors and project partners. Project proponent SM Foundation also purchased books to augment those collected during the book campaign.

The foundation previously distributed 164,459 assorted books, 14 sets of encyclopedia and 14 dictionaries to about 1,452 day care centers, public elementary and high school.

Of the 1,452 beneficiaries, 384 are day care centers, 734 are elementary schools and 334 are high schools. The day care centers and schools are located in Tondo, Manila; Rizal, Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Baguio/La Trinidad, La Union, Cavite, Quezon Province, Batangas, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Davao, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Naga and Kalinga. Irisan National High School, Pinsao National High School, Alanginlan National High School, Mabalacat High School, Sapalibutad Elementary School, and Vista Alegre Granda Relocation Elementary School are among the public schools that benefited from the project. Nara Club Organization, Orchids Day Care Center and Al Goshen Book also received books.

This year’s Donate-A-Book project has the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Bato Balani Foundation, OMF Literature, Adarna Publishing, Amos Publishing and Anvil Publishing as major partners.

In launching the Donate-A-Book project 11 years ago, SM’s immediate concern was to help address the book shortage in public schools nationwide. Today, the foundation’s book drive has included community reading centers and public libraries as beneficiaries. Its commitment goes beyond collecting more books — promoting interest in reading, improving comprehension and helping develop the communication skills of its beneficiaries has become one of the project’s concerns.