What’s the Big Bad Wolf (BBW) Book Sale got to do with nightlife? A lot, because if people want to do their book hunting at an unhurried pace, the best time is in the evening or even the late hours from midnight, since the event, now on its third year in the Philippines, runs for 24 hours until Feb. 24 at the World Trade Center in Pasay.At the sneak preview for VIP guests and the media on Feb. 13, BBW cofounder Jacqueline Ng explained that she decided not to postpone or cancel the sale due to the coronavirus because she didn’t want to deprive Filipinos of the chance to get their hands on 33,000 titles—including 17,000 new ones—from among the 2 million books, many of which are offered at 50-90 percent discount.

The BBW team, working with manpower and logistics firm SouthDream Corp. and Gawad Kalinga (GK) volunteers, prepared the necessary precautions including personnel doing temperature checks via infrared thermometers and spraying hand sanitizers at the gate.

Among the prominent personalities who took advantage of VIP Day was scriptwriter Ricky Lee, whose book purchases were said to have amounted to P23,000.Filmmaker Treb Monteras, who’s working with Lee on a movie project for Viva, came with his wife and three kids. The kids were seen opening the books they bought, which were stacked in a box on wheels.

Musician Jay Durias arrived before midnight with his wife Helene, daughter Kahlil, and sisters-in-law Kelly and Sharon Inductivo.

Jose Luis Oquiñena, chair of GK, the book sale’s beneficiary, and which is providing the 600 ground personnel composed of an operations manager, administration staff, team leaders, cashiers, baggers, porters, floor ushers, customer service assistants, among others, beautifully summed up the benefits of cultivating a reading culture among Filipinos: The way out of poverty is through knowledge gained from books. INQ

The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale runs for 24 hours until Feb. 24 at the World Trade Center, Gil Puyat Ave., Pasay.