Books for free
Is he our version of the late George Whitman of Shakespeare & Co. in Paris? This humble Pinoy street library has books—and wisdom—to share.
It’s almost five in the afternoon. Hernando “Nanie” Guanlao waves to the students on their way home, calling them to come check his books. “Browse through my collection. I have notebooks and textbooks over there,” Nanie calls out.
In Nanie’s booklandia—his books are spilling out of his house and onto the busy street of San Andres in Makati—no one needs a library card. There’s no overdue fine or membership ID. The only rule he has here is that there is no rule.
“Anyone can come and go and read the books for free,” says Nanie, who pioneered the Reading Club ten years ago. If you forgot to return the borrowed books, go ahead, that’s fine. “It’s an honesty system. If you don’t return the books or forget to return them, just make sure you share the books. Give them to your friends,” explains Nanie.
His makeshift library is bursting with textbooks and literary materials that are donated by bookworms in exchange of the paperbacks they borrow. Among the books available in the Reading Club are those by literary giants Federico Garcia Lorca, Philippa Gregory, Jodi Picoult, Paul Auster, and Cecily von Ziegesar.
“If this were a hospital, it would be the ICU. Here, I get to resurrect the abandoned and lifeless books,” says Nanie.
Soon, through word of mouth, people and organizations started visiting and donating books. Gadgets, Travel, and Mabuhay magazines would often donate their back issues. The Rotary Club, TV5, and National Bookstore are among his supporters. This is how he replenishes his books. Books and magazines and notebooks often overflow in his humble, one-bedroom dwelling.
This was how his Books for the Barrios project came to life. The excess books Nanie receives, he donates to far-flung communities. From Tabuk in Kalinga all the way to Tawi-Tawi, and even to the survivors of typhoons Pablo and Yolanda, his books have traveled far and wide. “This is my simple way of sharing the generosity of my donors. All I want is to achieve social literacy. Contrary to the belief that fewer people love to read, there are hungry readers out there,” says Nanie, a former accountant who turned his back from the trappings of life and decided to live simpler.
“I’ve had lucrative jobs—then it all became complicated. I told myself, ‘Life should be simple and easy, why am I in a complex world?’” From his readings of the iconic Italian educationist Maria Montessori including her The Secret of Childhood, Nanie decided that he could only find satisfaction once he reconnected with his inner child. Since children are selfless and always eager to learn, he put up his library.
Incidentally, Nanie’s generosity and dreams have inspired Billie. Nanie hands me a flyer—Ysobelle “Billie” Dantis Irabon’s “advertisement,” a Powerpuff and Cookie Monster sketch inviting kids to join her Kids Can book drive project. The 10-year-old kid collects books in exchange of her homemade cookies. She then turns over the books to Nanie.
“It’s good to invest in kids because they believe in your deeds and dreams,” says Nanie. No matter how cliché, the book hero believes that the kids—and the books—are our future.
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