Hagåtña, Guam – The Leon Guerrero-Tenorio Administration and the University of Guam (UOG) Press proudly presented the first collections of 45 books to winning villages as part of The Village Bookshelf Contest. The project is part of the UOG Press’ Youth Empowerment Initiative and funded by the Governor’s Education Assistance and Youth Empowerment Grant Program. As part of the project, collections of 45 books capturing the unique and lived experiences of people and cultures in the West Pacific will be provided to all villages and over 20 community-based organizations. The UOG Press was awarded $1,558,142 to execute the project.
Today, villages with winning bookshelf displays were presented their certificates, cash prizes, and additional support of writing workshops within their villages that will be facilitated by UOG Press. Winners are as follows:
1st place: Talo’fo’fo
2nd place: Agat
3rd place: Asan
People’s Choice: Agat
“As the world heals from the pandemic, we know there was a tremendous learning loss experienced by our students and communities, which is why we dedicated funding to ensure there is access islandwide to the stories of our people and our islands,” said Governor Lou Leon Guerrero. “By investing in community-wide education, we not only build on ongoing initiatives to remedy learning loss, but also on our efforts to promote cultural literacy and awareness.”
“Growing Guam’s prosperity begins with empowering young people to get ahead and putting them on the path to improve their quality of life,” said Lt. Governor Josh Tenorio. “Making cultural literacy more accessible provides children and communities with opportunities to further their learning. This is just part of the vision of the Governor’s Education Assistance and Youth Empowerment Grant Program, which continues to steward the revitalization of our island. We are also excited to attract residents to visit their village mayors’ offices and strengthen their sense of community pride.”