CEBU, Philippines — As soon as the ribbon was cut, Cebuano book lovers surged into GMall Cebu, hungry for the deals at Big Bad Wolf’s VIP Day on Thursday, July 24.
Now on its fifth Cebu visit, the world’s biggest book sale promises to outdo itself with over two million books, newly released titles, and discounts up to 95%. But perhaps the biggest change this year is the move to a new venue—from last year’s SM Seaside to this year’s GMall.
Co-founder Jacqueline Ng shared that the switch was a request from their Cebuano customers who wanted the sale to be much closer to the city center. As she put it, listening to their customer base is embedded in the “DNA” of Big Bad Wolf.
“Everything I learned is from the customers,” said Ng. “They teach me about books, authors, how to display books, what books they like, and what I should avoid.”
The decision to bring the book sale to Cebu stemmed purely from the outcry of Cebuanos online when Big Bad Wolf first landed in Manila. Midway through the Manila leg in May, the team flew to Cebu to scout the city. On the spot, they decided to bring the sale to the South.
By July of that same year, Big Bad Wolf made its Cebu debut. Ng fondly recalled that first night when she saw uniform-clad students straight from school lining up to buy some new books. On one occasion, a busload of teenagers arrived from a distant province, spending nine hours on the road, just to spend a single hour at the sale. They carefully picked out books with what little allowance they had, promising to share with each other.
“Our mission is to build this new generation of readers,” Ng asserted. In her opening remarks for the VIP Day, she rallied the crowd of bookworms in attendance: “One more book for one more person.”
With their Red Readerhood initiative, they take this commitment a notch higher. In every country Big Bad Wolf visits, they commit to donating books to their beneficiaries. This year, they have donated 1,000 books to the Sisters of Mary Schools (SMS) Boystown and Girlstown, boarding schools for underprivileged youth.
Bernie Bautista-Luto, an alumnus of Sisters of Mary School-Boystown, said the donation is a massive help to them, and it underscores the need to revive a love for reading among today’s youth. “Feel ko sa generation ko, kailangan natin ibalik yun [the importance of reading],” said Bautista-Luto. “Di naman masama mag cellphone, pero dapat may limit.” (I feel that in my generation, we should bring that back [the importance of reading]. It’s not bad to use your cellphone, but there should be a limit.)
Big Bad Wolf remains committed to the printed word in spite of the rapidly accelerating digital world. “The privileged group of people don’t need books. They have the resources,” said Ng. “But the people who are lower income, their life changes if you add a book in the mix.”
This she takes from personal experience. “My parents didn’t speak English. They don’t read. My house had zero books…My change was [when a] friend lent me a book,” Ng recalled. “That book made me understand how joyful it is to read. It took me to a different world [and] opened up my mind.”
In an event whose biggest draw is slashed prices, Ng said the most priceless thing is seeing the many children here choosing and reading a book. She narrated the tale of an imagined child that has kept her motivated for years: one whose given a book about planets, boasts about what he knows, is lauded for his knowledge, and spends the rest of his life hungry to learn more.
“Just because of this one book his whole life changes,” Ng said.
Big Bad Wolf opens to the public at GMall starting Friday, July 25, until Monday, August 4. Admission is free daily from 10 am to 9 pm. — Rappler.com