Students read books at the Valenzuela City Academic Center for Excellence on February 6, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/file 

(UPDATED) The interest of Filipinos in reading non-schools books (NSB) continues to decline through the years, the 2023 National Readership Survey (NRS) showed. 

The readership among Filipino adults was at 42% last year from 54% in 2012. In children, readership was pegged at 47% in 2023, while no records were mentioned in the previous years. 

The National Book Development Board (NBDB) that presented the study said access to books emerged as the primary reason for the decline, given the limited access to public libraries and areas where they can get books for free. 

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The NRS indicated that only 18% of the Filipino adults and 12% of children are aware of public libraries in their city or municipality. 

Further, it showed that more than half of Filipino adults and children prioritize book availability, followed by affordability, as their main considerations when choosing non-school books. 

NBDB’s OIC Chief of Policy and Industry Research Division Kevin Ansel Dy  noted the "alarming decline" in readership among Filipinos. 

"We could speculate. People can blame technology. Obviously, it is related din to literacy because decline in literacy drives lower readership, because there are fewer Filipinos who can read," Dy said. 

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"There is definitely a steady decline and we do also find it definitely alarming," he added. 

For this reason, the NBDB urges the country's policymakers, educators and community leaders to "prioritize readership and literacy initiatives". 

For its part, NBDB as an attached agency of the Department of Education (DepEd), reaffirms its commitment to strengthen its programs and policies to "reignite" the love for reading among Filipinos. 

Charisse Aquino-Tugade, NBDB's Executive Director, said these include the "Book Nook Project" or the establishment of reading centers in remote and indigenous areas, and the Philippine Book Festival, which "provides a space for large scale institutional purchases of books and learning materials in an engaging, experience-based setting". 

"Access is one of the major influences on behavior, and the results of the survey confirm that access to quality books remains a major defining issues in book publishing and education," she said. 

"The reality is that, to many, purchasing a book remains a luxury, and this widening gap in access to quality books should alert us to immediately address underlying barriers to reading, chief of which is access," she added. 

NBDB Chairperson Dante Francis Ang II proposed to revisit the law that mandates local government units to establish libraries. 

Strengthening the local publishing industry will also aid the country's economy, he said. 

"It means job, not only for the writers and publishers but also book designers, editors, marketing people and logistics people," he said. 

Since 2003, the NBDB has been conducting studies to evaluate the reading habits and preferences of Filipinos.  The first NRS was carried out as a rider survey with the Social Weather Stations and was replicated in 2007 and 2012. 

The 2023 NRS, on the other hand, is a "scaled-up survey" which covered a 12 month timeframe, involving 2,400 adults and 2,400 children aged 8 to 17 years old. 

The NBDB hopes that the result will serve as a guide for the government in developing "policy and capacity-building initiatives, content creation endeavors, and book promotion programs" that will improve literacy among Filipinos and support the local book publishing industry.