US launches 'Mobile Bus Library' in Pakistan

The US today launched the Mobile Bus Library programme in Pakistan to promote reading habits among school children and signed an agreement to continue working towards educating the teachers.
The programme was launched by Donald Larry Sampler, Assistant to the Administrator of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and President International Rescue Committee (IRC), David Miliband, at a government secondary school here, the US embassy in Pakistan said.
The programme is part of USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project and aims to bring age-appropriate reading materials to communities which do not have established libraries in order to help reintroduce and re-establish a national culture of reading in Pakistan.

Speaking on the occasion Larry Sampler said, "The Mobile Library Programme is just one element of the USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project which will help Pakistani children to start their own journeys in the world of books."
"The USAID funded Pakistan Reading Project being implemented by IRC is helping to improve reading skills of children across Pakistan. The mobile bus library is another step towards promoting a reading culture in Pakistan," David Miliband said.
The Pakistan Reading Project implemented by the International Rescue Committee, will run a mobile bus library program in Sindh and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) over the next two years and will bring reading materials directly to communities and help re-establish reading habits.

Later in the day, USAID Mission Director Gregory Gottlieb and Pakistan's Minister of State for Federal Education and Professional Development, Muhammad Baligh ur Rehman signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to continue working towards improvement in the quality of education by helping to build the skills of teachers throughout Pakistan.
The USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project is a USD 165 million project which is supporting Pakistan's provincial and regional departments of education to improve the reading skills of children.