Travelling bookworms

SANDTON – Gautrain commuters can now download free e-books while they travel with the help of the Bookboon website.

MEC for Roads and Transport, Dr Ismail Vadi explains how Bookboon will benefit university students and travellers.

As of 6 September, the Gautrain will allow all of its commuters to enjoy a more intellectual ride by downloading e-books for free using the Bookboon website and Gautrain Internet services.

The media were invited to the launch of this new venture and were addressed by keynote speakers who explained Bookboon and its benefits.

Although Bookboon is only made freely available to Gautrain commuters at present, the keynote speakers highlighted its benefits and explained how the website can be used by all South Africans.

Radio personality and patron of the Bookboon initiative South Africa, Jenny Crys-Williams explained, “This website exists entirely to educate young people. It [Bookboon] works by having a sophisticated website that publishes books in the hard sciences, for example maths and engineering… Other books include topics such as English grammar or how to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace.”

She added that these books could easily be downloaded onto an iPad, laptop or other devices, free of charge.

Crys-Williams highlighted the socio-economic benefits of this website. “This programme can save the average university student R1 000 per month in textbook costs.”

MEC for Roads and Transport, Dr Ismail Vadi said, “We have called this The Bridging the Gap initiative. This is a great opportunity and we [Gautrain] are the first entity that has structured a partnership with Bookboon… I hope that all the 1.4 million people that use the Gautrain per month can read [while travelling]. I am proud of the partnership that starts today.”

He stressed that many university students have to worry about an array of expenses such as transport costs, accommodation, food and photocopying. It is for this reason that he believes students will benefit from the use of an e-book website.

Vadi elaborated on the easy process that commuters need to follow to log onto the website. “With the use of the Gautrain Internet services, just go to the Bookboon website, type in your name and email… and then you can select the book you require from a number of categories [such as maths, science or engineering].”