“Books and reading are one of the best gifts for everyone because they give us pleasure and satisfaction and open the doors of imagination, creativity, thought and information. That is why during this time of year we encourage everyone to consider buying a book as a Christmas present, and in order to give an example we are also giving thousands of books to the regional and local libraries as well as to the school libraries,” said Education Minister Louis Galea, yesterday while addressing librarians and students from the state schools that received a total of 10,000 books and other educational materials.

Dr Galea said that as in previous years, instead of buying Christmas cards the ministry was investing money in books and other materials which are given to the public and school libraries.

He also thanked the various authors, publishers and shops that donated the books, and the British High Commission for taking the initiative to arrange a big donation of books from libraries in Belfast, in the UK. This donation consisted of two containers which amounted to about 25,000 books.

The books were processed by the Central Public Library to be shared among seven regional libraries and 37 library branches in Malta and Gozo. The process includes barcoding, classification and cataloguing. A substantial number of books covering various subjects will go to the libraries of 72 primary schools and 34 secondary state schools.