National Book Week (NBW) is fast approaching and this year marks a decade of influence on South Africa’s reading culture.
The NBW campaign will run from September 2 to 8, with the SA Book Fair from September 6 to 8 at Constitution Hill.
This year, the celebration also coincides with International Literacy Day on September 8 and will include 10 indigenous language reading festivals in remote communities across the country to mark Unesco’s International Year of Indigenous Languages.
Ensuring greater access to books for children is the top priority for the South African Book Development Council (SABDC), and Caxton has taken up the challenge to promote reading and access to books within every community in which we publish newspapers.
Personally, my love of books has certainly made every aspect of my life easier and richer than had I been illiterate.
It has allowed me to improve my scope of knowledge through study, discover the world of travel and make simple, everyday decisions, like what brands to buy in a supermarket.
The ability to read is a necessary skill if you hope to communicate in a world which is run using the written word.
Aside from reading vital documents and making shopping choices, it is impossible to exist in a world of WhatsApp and social media or to learn other skills, like driving or how to perform life-saving surgery, if you cannot read.
It is a window into other worlds, improves vocabulary and general knowledge, promotes analytic thinking and improves focus and concentration.
Simply put, it is the gateway skill to “living your best life”.
“A book takes the reader to a different place.
“It carries a cultural essence and aids national identity,” says CEO of SABDC Elitha van der Sandt, who reminded guests at a recent breakfast that 78 per cent of Grade Four learners are unable to read for meaning.
However, while the ability to read is a crucial life skill, it seems that reading and literacy aren’t high on the list of priorities for the Ekurhuleni metro, who have left Springsites without a library for the first seven months of this year.
Added to this, they are still unable to give a definitive date for the reopening of this facility.
A SABDC study revealed that just 14 per cent of South Africans actively read, while 58 per cent of households did not have a single leisure book at home.
In a country with an unacceptable rate of illiteracy, and unemployment, it would seem to me that ensuring the metro’s residents have access to books and study material would be at the top of their list of priorities, but all signs point to the contrary.
The metro is simply having nothing to do with curbing the high rate of illiteracy within its “borders”.
In February 2015, speaking to predictions that libraries will become obsolete and extinct, Ekurhuleni metro assured its residents that the library in Springs is still utilised by the community.
Themba Gadebe, spokesperson of Ekurhuleni metro, said at the time that an average of 4 500 people make use of the Springs Library every month.
In addition, an average of 2 137 people utilise the research library monthly.
I would expect that some of those 4 500 readers are children or parents of young children who need access to free library books to learn to read, and it is likely the majority of the people accessing the research library are learners who do not have access to the internet at home and desperately need the library services to successfully complete their year’s studies.
With the mid-year exams a thing of the past, and learners having lost seven vital months of reading, perhaps it is time for the metro to step up and meet the challenges set by the needs of its residents.
In other words, it’s time to stop making excuses and give our citizens access to vital study materials.
Whether learners need research material or children’s books – which will ensure that the current generation of Grade One, Two and Three can actually read, and understand what they are reading, before they are thrown into Grade Four – it is vital that our citizens have access to materials which will equip them with the vital life skills they need to survive in a world of words.
#WeRead #ReadBecause #CaxtonCares #BuyABook
