Library Service awarded for National Book Week programme

On Friday 7 September 2018 the Western Cape Library Service (WCLS) received an award from the South African Book Development Council (SABDC) at the South African Book Fair in Newtown, Johannesburg.

The reward was received in honour of their participation in the National Book Week campaign. This campaign is the longest running and most successful reading campaign in South Africa. The WCLS has taken part in the campaign for the last ten years.

The theme for the 2018 campaign was #ourstories. The most recent campaign was hosted by WCLS in the beginning of September, and took place in Ceres in partnership with Witzenberg Municipality and the South African Book Development Council. Activities that the community could participate in included digital storytelling, book storytelling, oral history sharing, a wordathon and enjoying a toy library. The two mascots, Bhuki and Funda Bala, assisted with the hand-out of books to children and adults.

Neville Adonis, Assistant Director at the WCLS, is proud of the participation of the WCLS in the campaign. Especially since factors such as the high price of books, issues of language, lack of time and the fact that reading is perceived as boring are some of the reasons behind the lack of a reading culture. “We should never underestimate the importance of reading and that is why National Book Week is such an important initiative as it promotes reading for adults and children”, said Mr Adonis.

DCAS is committed to provide free, equitable and accessible library services to Western Cape Communities. Let us create well-informed, literate communities, BETTER TOGETHER.