NLB takes reading sessions to kids living in public rental flats

Madam Senthamarai Selvi enrolled her two children in a weekly reading programme beneath her block in 2018 to keep them from fighting - and for her to get some peace and quiet.

- Shermaine Ang

The kids loved it, and even after the family moved to Yew Tee in 2019, they insisted on making the 45-minute commute to Choa Chu Kang every Friday to attend it.

"They didn't want to miss a session," said Madam Selvi, 41, who works part-time in sales.

"When I was young, I couldn't socialise easily," said her daughter Muthaiyan Rudrapriya, 11, who has a nine-year-old brother.

"But after I joined kidsRead, I found it really easy to socialise. I like to hang out with my friends, and I'm the funniest one in that group."

Rudrapriya is among nearly 80,000 children who have benefited from kidsRead, a programme launched by the National Library Board (NLB) in 2004 to cultivate the love of reading among children aged four to eight from lower-income families.

NLB marked the programme's 20th anniversary with an event held at the National Library Building on Aug 31.

At the event, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo announced the launch of kidsRead@Home, a new programme which takes reading sessions to children living in public rental flats.