The Bookery sounds like a place that belongs to the wonderful world of Roald Dahl. And it’s working the same kind of magic.
Sitauted in Roeland Street, Cape Town, The Bookery is the space that has been secured by Equal Education to coordinate their massive and ongoing book drive.
The shockingly low literacy level among South African learners is one result of the appalling lack of libraries at government schools. Only about seven percent of public schools have functioning libraries.
Equal Education is aiming for one school, one library, one librarian. They believe that school libraries should be stocked with a minimum of three books per learner per school. And the libraries should be fully serviced, meaning that they must be coordinated by a trained librarian.
And so they’re calling on the public to donate books to the Bookery which will, in turn, be distributed to schools in rural areas and townships that have the library space but no books. They are asking people to bring in any and all books that would be suitable for either primary school or high school learners.
Equal Education was founded in 2008 and strives to promote quality and equality in the South African education system. They’re also calling for a national policy on school libraries.
Having access to books through libraries help to promote a love of books and a culture of reading. This is one step in the direction of combating illiteracy which lies at the heart of the education crisis in South Africa.
