History
In 1999, Sa Aklat Sisikat was launched as a literacy campaign in the City of Manila, Philippines. Its objective was to promote the love and habit of reading amongst public school children through various reading-related activities. These included eye examinations for Grade 1 public school students; installation of Literary Landmarks in the City of Manila; upgrading of public libraries; public storytelling series and two habit-forming reading activities, known as Battle of the Books and Read-a-Thon in cooperation with the Department of Education.

Encouraged by the success of the pilot project, Sa Aklat Sisikat was established as an independent foundation on January 2001, in partnership with Petron Foundation.

Understanding the urgent need to promote the reading habit, Sa Aklat Sisikat has since chosen to concentrate on habit-forming reading activities by organizing Read-a-Thons throughout the public educational school system of the Philippines. SAS recognizes these reading marathons as the most effective method for promoting the reading habit amongst Grade 4 public school children.

FAST FACTS SUMMARY FOR 2004 SITES
No.	Area	No. of Public Schools Benefited	No. of Grade 4 Students Benefited	No. of Teachers Trained	No. of Books Distributed
1	Baguio City (CAR)	28	4,420	128	6,000
2	Naga City, Bicol	23	3,720	64	5,040
3	Aliaga, Nueva Ecija	23	1,391	58	2,100
4	Balanga, Bataan	16	1,696	46	2,460
5	Tayabas, Quezon	5	794	22	1,020
6	Coke L-V-M	16	315	32	960
7	Children's hour Iloilo	7	676	23	1,140
TOTAL		118	13,012	373	18,720

OVER-ALL FAST FACTS SUMMARY
	Pilot Project	Year 2002		Year 2003	Year 2004	TOTAL
	Manila	Marikina	Nasugbu
No. of Public Schools Benefited	26	17	31	110	118	302
No. of Grade 4 Students Benefited	21,000	7,500	2,200	27,722	13,012	71,434
No. of Teachers Trained	193	85	85	466	373	1,202
No. of Books Distributed	14,180	5,600	2,200	36,420	18,720	77,120