The 1 000 beneficiaries of the 2025 Avbob Road to Literacy campaign have been announced. This project, in collaboration with Oxford University Press South Africa, is a nationwide trolley library initiative.
It continues to improve access to books in communities across South Africa, with a focus on schools and non-profit organisations (NPOs).
The announcement was made at an event hosted in Sandton, Johannesburg, on 29 May.
The project addresses the ongoing challenges of low literacy and numeracy levels at foundation phase by providing culturally and linguistically relevant materials in all 11 official written languages.
This year’s campaign reflects substantial growth from the 180 library trolleys distributed in its inaugural year, 2022. Each of the 1 000 mobile library includes 500 books from Oxford University Press SA selected to support literacy and numeracy skills in alignment with the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (Caps) curriculum. The total number of books distributed this year will exceed 500 000, up from 250 000 in 2024.
Each trolley library is valued at R57 000, bringing the total investment for the 2025 campaign to R57 million. The trolleys are designed to be mobile, durable, and easy to access in shared or under-resourced learning environments.
This year’s campaign received 8 661 nominations from across all nine provinces, submitted by educators, caregivers, community leaders, and members of the public.
Since 2022, the campaign has evolved into one of the most extensive mobile library programmes in the country. Educational experts have long advocated for mother tongue instruction at the early stages of schooling. Research has consistently shown that when children learn to read in their home language, they are more likely to stay in school, perform better academically, and transition successfully to additional languages later in life.
A total of 20 educational institutes in the Northern Cape will benefit from this project.
They are the Bantu Kwantu Renaissance; Vela-Langa Primary School; E.R. Mocwaledi; Pabalelo Primary School; Agape Community Upliftment Projects; Abantwana After-care Centre; Amogelang ECD; Delta Primary School; J.J. Booysen Primary School; J.J. Lambert Primary School; Karos Intermediate School; Kuruman Tuition Centre; Loeriesfontein Laerskool; Petrusville Laerskool; Rietrivier Primary School; Seodin Primary School; Wrenchville Primary School; SS Madikane Primary School; Zingisani Primary School and Isago Primary School.
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