67 minutes of reading

Marked across the world on 18 July each year, Mandela Day aims to inspire people to take action to change the world for the better and, in doing so, to build a global movement for good. There were a number of initiatives focussed on educating children through reading and book donations thanks to the 67 minutes of Reading to Children Campaign, which aims to raise awareness about the importance of parents reading books to their children and assisting in spreading a culture of reading in South Africa. According to a survey conducted by the South African Book Development Council, 5% of parents read books to their children and this plays a major role in the low reading statistics recorded by the Council, which indicate that only 14% of South Africans are considered regular book readers.

The South African Reading Foundation (SARF) and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) donated African Literature books to 60 children at the Johannesburg Children’s Home. SARF is also currently running the Read a Book SA Campaign on Twitter with over 23 824 followers, the followers were encouraged to read books to their children or younger siblings for 67 minutes and send pictures of them participating in this activity to @ReadabookSA.

A number of Springbok rugby players gave 67 minutes of their time in Langa township in Cape Town and Eldorado Park in Johannesburg as part of the recently launched Boks for Books campaign. Four Springbok stars read to learners of the school and participated in a Tag Rugby Clinic.

The Mandela Day container library project, an innovative response to the shortage of libraries at South African schools, celebrated Nelson Mandela month with the handover of its 28th library – a custom-adapted 12-metre shipping container – to Alpine Primary School in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town.

Breadline Africa is one of a number of NGOs and corporates that have partnered with the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory to drive the container library project, with corporates providing financial support, sponsorship of books and employee volunteers, and literacy organisations, book donation agencies and publishers providing books, educational equipment and materials.

The first Mandela Day container library was opened on 18 July 2011 at Tsakane Primary School on the East Rand in Gauteng province, and since then a further 26 have opened, covering deserving underprivileged schools in urban and rural areas countrywide and collectively touching the lives of over 20 000 pupils.

Another container Library was delivered to the Blikkiesdorp community in Delft, outside Cape Town, through the collaboration of the Boundless heart Foundation, the Design Indaba, South African Breweries and AM Cargo. Y Tsai refurbished the container, Cecile & Boyd designed the interior and furniture was provided by Xanita. The library was enthusiastically received by the community, who will collectively be responsible for the library, its functioning and upkeep.

Nal’ibali, the reading for enjoyment campaign put together 67 ideas to encourage reading. The ideas are innovative and fun and can be accessed on their website.

www.nalibali.org
www.liasa.org.za