"Happy Reading" gifts...

Step into Bernama library on the eighth floor and you will easily noticed the colourful-wrapped  gift boxes stacked neatly behind the counter.

Each box has a number  -- from 1 to 100.

A glass bowl containing cut-out papers, each also numbered from 1 to 100, sits on the same table.

It is the latest effort by the unit to encourage the reading habit among Bernama staff

Those who want to borrow books are given a card with the tag “Happy Reading”.

Each card contains 12 boxes that would be stamp-marked everytime they borrow of up to three books.

But the mark can only be obtained  at least seven days from the previous entry , irrespective of the number  of books borrowed.

Borrowers can claim the gift once all the boxes in their card are filled, the earliest would be within 12 weeks.

Bernama Library and Information Service (Blis) manager Hasnita Ibrahim says 100 gift boxes are up for grabs, containing various collectible items.

“We estimate that by the time all the gifts are given out, the staff would have collectively borrowed at least 1,200 times,” she said.

Senior Technical Manager Abdul Halim Hafiz Mohamad Radzali is almost reaching the target with only two more boxes to fill.

He started on the day the campaign was launched on May 23.

“It’s a good initiative to inculcate the reading habit…there are lots of books in our library, it’s just up to us whether to read or not,” he said.