If you can’t go to a library, then a library can come to you

Saeed A. Malik decided to act on his dream of “educating the young generation and infusing them with knowledge” after serving as an international civil servant with  the United Nations for over 25 years. His aim was to provide children with books that entertain, inform, and evoke their curiosity; helping them develop awareness of the world around them, while fostering questioning minds and promoting tolerance. Malik’s novel initiative comes as the launch of a mobile library for children, called the Bright Star Mobile Library (BSML). The library is presently established inside two vans that carry over 1,000 books and patrol primary and junior schools in the rural areas of Islamabad, keeping vigilant for prospective borrowers and learners. Malik, the founder of BSML, said that according to a survey he conducted in schools of Islamabad Capital Territories (ICT), over 80 per cent of primary and junior schools of rural areas had no library facility for its students. BSML will bring library services to the door step of these schools and provide the students with access to books, developing and promoting reading habits among the youngsters right from the primary education level, said Malik... Read more [Source: http://tribune.com.pk]

At A Pakistani Mobile Library, Kids Can Check Out Books, And Hope

On a cold, rainy morning, a van pulls up outside a rural elementary school on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan's capital. The fluorescent green vehicle provides a flash of color on this otherwise gray day. There's a picture of children reading books under a large apple tree, and the words "Reading is fun" are painted in English and Urdu, the national language in Pakistan.

Volunteer Ameena Khan starts pulling books from shelves on either side of the van.

"One is called Faces and one's an Urdu book," she says. "We're doing Bears on Wheels, which is a nice counting book. Fourth grade is going to read their own books."
The younger children gather to hear Khan read. The girls, bright-eyed and engaged, sit cross-legged on the floor in neat rows.... Read more
[Source: http://www.npr.org]

Literacy to Pakistan project needs funds

Three years ago, Saeed Malik left San Francisco with a vision for how to bring literacy to poor schoolchildren in his native Pakistan. Now he has returned to ensure that his bookmobile program serving 5,000 students every week stays afloat.

Malik, the former director of the U.N. Food Programme in Eastern Europe, started the Bright Star Mobile Library in May 2011. One day each week, one of four ambulances-turned-bookmobiles visit first- through sixth-grade students at 20 rural schools outside the capital city of Islamabad.

"When you go to the school and see the children reading, it's electrifying," said his wife, Siddiqa.
The San Francisco-based Asia Foundation, a nongovernmental organization promoting development in Asia, helped Malik launch the program with a $10,000 donation. "Without that support, the operation wouldn't have started," Malik said..... Read more
[Source:http://www.sfgate.com]

Pakistan bookmobile turns to S.F. library for aid

The green and yellow bookmobiles that are becoming a popular sight for schoolchildren in Pakistan originated, in many ways, 7,000 miles away - in San Francisco.

Its founder, Pakistani native Saeed Malik, spent three decades directing the U.N. World Food Programme in Eastern Europe. Upon retiring in 2004, he returned to a country he barely recognized.....Read more
[Source: http://www.sfgate.com]

Life after WFP ? Delivering a look for Books