It is not uncommon for public schools in the Philippines to have limited access to books. Even though some are fortunate enough to at least have a small collection, it is somewhat of a known fact that these books are either outdated or too few in comparison to the number of children for whom they are for.

In the province of Rizal, an area where the more isolated or far-flung areas experience such issues, Good Neighbors partnered with the Department of Education (DepEd) in order to provide the community with several projects that assist the DepEd – Division of Rizal that push forward the improvement of learning namely container van libraries, a mobile library, and various learning resources for reading.

According to the teachers in the province, the container van and mobile libraries were instrumental in the development of the love for reading among students, as were the learning materials needed by the teachers. As a result of this capacity-building effort, many schools in the area were given the opportunity to use the materials for knowledge gain and development. Resources for learning were distributed to each of the five DepEd division clusters while the container van has catered to teachers and students from different parts of the province. The mobile libraries, on the other hand, have been able to tour multiple municipalities.

The teachers and school heads are very committed in ensuring that the projects and programs developed by GNIP are enacted and sustained in their respective schools. This, partnered with frequent school, student, and faculty orientations and coordination with Adopt-A-School programs, helps ensure that the libraries and materials are a sustainable avenue for academic progress.