Biblionef donates 35 000 books to local schools

The City of Johannesburg’s Million Books Donation Campaign gladly received a rather large donation from Biblionef at the Danie van Zyl Recreation Centre in Montclair on Friday 31 January.

At around 9am teachers from 120 schools gathered with representatives from the media, Biblionef and the City’s Library and Information Services to receive 35 000 books, or around 250 books per school. Biblionef is an international non-government organisation that was launched in 1999. It secures donations to be able to donate books to schools. The City’s Million Books Campaign aims to collect 1 million books between 2013 and 2016 for schools and school libraries.

The campaign was started by Nobuntu Mpendelo (Director of Library and Information Services), Atilla Lourens (Deputy Director of Library and Information Services) and Jean Williams (Director of Biblionef South Africa) with the support of their department and organisation’s staff.

“Putting literacy in the City’s 2040 strategy was a big achievement for us,” Nobunto told the crowd that gathered.

“We want children to read for pleasure and become lifelong learners through books.

“In addition to teaching them literacy, let’s give them reading books, let’s open up their worlds.”

Jean took special care to go through one of the 120 boxes to explain stories that are included to the audience.

“We give books in all 11 languages depending on their language needs, and about 90 per cent of these books are South African.

“We would like children to enjoy reading in their home languages,” Williams explained, saying that the monetary value of the books donated on Friday amounts to around R1,8 million.

Teachers were delighted to receive a box each and couldn’t wait to scrutinise the checklists to see what their school gained.