Sad ending to Teddy Bear’s tale

The popular Teddy Bear Bookshop in Wooton Avenue, Western Extension, Benoni, has become the latest victim of the economy.

The shop will shut its doors at the end of July because profit margins have decreased as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the country’s struggling economy.

Opened in February 2012 by bookworm Stephanie van Zyl to foster a culture of reading in children, the shop wasn’t only a bookshop but a space where Benonians could go to converse and acquire new knowledge.

Speaking to our sister publication Benoni City Times, Van Zyl said she was driven by the need to introduce reading to children early after realising the basic foundation of education was being lost.

“Everything in life is based on reading – from driving to shopping. We are losing that and it’s scary. It’s important for our children to read because if they don’t, they can’t handle larger volumes of work when they get to university,” she said.

“Covid affected us badly. I was always happy to cover the rental costs but after Covid, it became difficult. I’m very sad. I realised in the past two years that we can’t continue because the shop wasn’t making money.”

An avid reader who frequented the Benoni Library in her youth, Van Zyl said as books became more expensive, her shop became a sanctuary for avid readers and parents who wanted affordable books for their children.

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“I started the shop with the intention to get our children to read. It was a passion of mine because our children no longer read due to technology.

“When children came in here and grabbed a book they liked, I encouraged the parent to buy it for them. I also told them to teach their children a love for books.”

Van Zyl raved about the impact her shop made in the community with its regular reading sessions for children but was saddened by the recent stats that revealed Grade Four learners in the country were unable to read for meaning, saying the foundation should be laid at home.

“It starts at home before they start schooling,” she said. “They should love books before they go to school. If parents could read to them for five minutes every day, that’s enough.”

She said the answer to South Africa’s reading crisis was in fixing libraries, ensuring they are well-stocked and run efficiently, with programmes to increase literacy in the country.

“Let’s get our libraries back to what they used to be. We had a really good library in Benoni. When I was young, we didn’t have second-hand bookshops. We were taken to the library every week.

“We need to get that back. I would like our government to put more money into our libraries and introduce more programmes so that our children can go and read.

“Books are expensive but in a library they are free. I would like to see our libraries expanded, well-stocked and run efficiently for our children,” she said.

Teddy Bear Bookshop was run by Memory Wright from day one. “I feel sad. I’m going to miss all the people. I will miss this place terribly,” she said.

Van Zyl and her husband will move to Durban next year. She thanked Benonians for their support throughout the years.

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