THE PROJECT THAT MAKES YOU READ, WRITE AND PAINT

Sevil OLUÇ

Source: Muğla Gazetesi

In Muğla, the EGET Foundation, which cultivates lavender and truffles to provide scholarships for university students, has also brought its library to the streets to foster reading habits among children. Through its "Libraries Without Doors, Books on the Streets" project, the EGET Foundation has facilitated the reading of 2,441 books in three years, encouraging children to write compositions and create drawings related to the books they read, thus contributing to their development in writing and visual arts.

As part of the "Libraries Without Doors, Books on the Streets" project, one of the educational projects undertaken by the Education-Geriatrics-Ecological Agriculture-Tourism (EGET) Foundation, books from the Foundation's library are brought out onto the streets every Friday between 12:00 and 14:00. Children can choose a book from a stand set up in front of the Foundation building and, within 15 days, read it and either write a composition or create a drawing about it. Children who bring their essays and drawings to the Foundation throughout the year are rewarded with various gifts by the Foundation's administrators.

“Demand is Increasing”

Safai Özer, one of the founders of the EGET Foundation, explained the project's implementation method: “Initially, we worked to announce the project to banks and publishing houses that have been actively involved in the publishing sector for years through the EGET Foundation, and to request donated books. The books are stamped with the EGET Foundation seal. Book lending stalls are set up on the streets of the city on Fridays and Saturdays. We ask students who borrow books to either write an essay or draw a picture about the book they read, and at the end of the year, we select and reward them based on evaluations. We held our last award ceremony in April. When we started the project, they were initially expected to read and return the books within 15 days. But as time went on, the demand became so high that now children read the book in a day and want to exchange it for a new one.” It has been learned that a total of 2,441 books have been read so far within the scope of the project, which was launched on December 9, 2016.

The Aim is to Encourage Examples by Rewarding Success

Özlem Uzman, another founder of the EGET Foundation, explained the aims of the "Libraries Without Doors, Books on the Streets" project as follows: “In our country, where the level of reading is decreasing day by day, we aim to ensure that primary and secondary school students always have a positive attitude towards reading. We aim to improve students' writing skills by having them write compositions about the books they borrow. We aim to create an environment for students to acquire skills in visual arts by encouraging them to create drawings related to the topics of the books they will read. By evaluating the written compositions and drawings with a committee and rewarding commendable works, we aim to increase the habit of reading by encouraging young people to emulate each other.”