La Lucia Library staff, back from left, Marlene Perumal, Andy Dowley, Eshara Daya and Prenisha Raynath. In front is Pranesh Indarjit, Lawrence Dlamini and Sisanda Gumede.
LOCALS and libraries will be on the same page as the Library and Information Service (LIASA) sector celebrates South African Library Week (SALW) with the theme Collaborate @ your library from 18 – 24 March.
Andy Dowley, librarian in charge at La Lucia Library said the library will be hosting several programmes around Library Week.
According to the LIASA website, Library Week is a celebration of South Africa’s intellectual and literacy heritage and libraries across the country use the annual event as an opportunity to market their services to the users, the broader community, civil society and also decision makers.
“Our Library Week programs cover the themes: book care, story telling, why you should read and Easter crafts. We will also host a Moms and Totz programme on Wednesday, 20 March, where we help parents bond with their children by playing games and ‘growing stories,’ where you start the story and each one adds on to it. This helps to grow their imaginations,” she said.
Dowley added that the La Lucia Library has a unique way of keeping up with the times
“Our library is the busiest in the area looking at statistics so our community are avid readers.We offer many services, we have eBooks, public computers we have talking’s books free internet for the community. Schools still demand that children read and find information. Many of our members have tried Kindle and eBooks and still come back to books,” she added.
Cameron Telffer with sisters Tendai and Talitha Masuku at La Lucia Library.
Pranesh Indarjit who works at the La Lucia Library said that Library Week aims to encourage reading and promote the library.
“It is a proven fact that children who read perform better at school. Libraries install the culture of reading in the youth and help to developing a love for reading. While we are living in the internet age, the library is still popular. What we’ve noticed over the years is that when we were young we used to rely on the library for research, now we have the internet and that impacts on the youth, but a lot of schools like to see a reference list and that encourages the youth to use books,” he said.
