The B.P. Leinaeng Library’s shelves are now pullulating with books, thanks to a collection initiative.
Various avid readers from the community, as well as bookstores and authors, donated books in the spirit of fostering a reading culture to support the improvement of South Africa’s literacy rate, a single effort at a time.
Donors responded to a project themed “Bring a Book, Build a Child.”
This was organised by the Free State Central Book Festival (FSCBF) to commemorate South Africa’s annual National Book Week during September.
Books were handed over to be housed in this library in Phahameng on 13 September.
Some of the books were written by South African authors, while others have their origin abroad. More than 200 books have now found a new home on the shelves of the library.
Trevor Mokeyane, chairperson of the FSCBF as well as a teacher and publisher, said the donation would play a far-reaching role.
He said the donation underscored the donors’ commitment to improving literacy, adding it had given credence to the objective behind the library’s establishment.
Mokeyane desribed the donors as friends of the library.
The donation includes children’s books, to promote the joy of reading as part of holistic early childhood development.
This has been prompted by the 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls) report, revealing that 81% of Gr. 4 learners in South Africa were struggling to read for meaning and comprehension.
