Cape Town - Capetonians have collected more than 17 000 books for schools in Mitchells Plain in need of reading material for learners.
This after an appeal by liberty Promenade Mall for assistance with its book drive, made possible through the mall’s #ReadDreamRepeat campaign launched earlier this year.
Liberty Promenade marketing manager Najeeba Small-Ebrahim said they were humbled by the support from the schools and organisations that helped them collect 17 362 books.
The schools include AZ Berman Primary, Beacon View Primary, Cascade Primary, Hyacinth Primary, Lantana Primary, Mitchells Plain Primary, AZ Berman High, Beacon Hill High, Glendale Secondary, Oval North High, Portland High, Tafelsig High, Westridge High and Woodlands Secondary schools.
“Reading is an essential part of every child’s educational journey, but this is simply not possible without books or reading materials, which are known to be in short supply in many public schools,” Small-Ebrahim said.
AZ Berman Primary school Grade 1 teacher, Cherryl May-Williams, said: “Children do not see the example of parents who are reading at home and this creates a cycle of children who don’t enjoy reading. As such, we try to encourage parents to realise the value of reading to their children at home.”
Some of the supporting organisations and schools in this year’s book drive are Woolworths, the Rotary Club, Exclusive Books, Norman Henshilwood High School, Bergvliet High School, Rand Water, Pick n Pay School Club, and the Mitchells Plain Festival.
“There was quite an intricate process involved once the books were donated. The books went into storage, the book covers were sanitised, then counted, then categorised into primary and high school content, then boxed for delivery to the schools,” Small-Ebrahim said.
Pick n Pay School Club manager Catherine Bothma said: “Books are expensive and schools can use all the help they can get. Every year, Pick n Pay School Club selects a literacy project to support. We love this initiative by Liberty Promenade and will support them every year.”
She said there were more than 3 500 schools registered with the Pick n Pay School Club to receive free educational content, 38 of which were in Mitchells Plain, so there was a huge need to provide learners with appropriate readers that were age specific and educational.
