Media Alert: Western Cape to host the closing ceremony of the National Book Week | Western Cape Government

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Media Alert: Western Cape to host the closing ceremony of the National Book Week

3 September 2014

The National Book Week initiative which is in its 5th year running started off on Monday the 1st of September and will conclude on Sunday the 7th of September.

National Book Week was developed in response to a study commissioned in 2007, by the South African Book Development Council (SABDC) which showed that majority of South African adults do not read and many more of them do not read to their children. This was attributed to a number of reasons which vary from access to books to literacy levels.

The South African Book Development Council (SABDC) in partnership the national Department of Arts and Culture has been the driver of this initiative and it has done very well.

This year, National Book Week Official Events’ will take place in six provinces, throughout the week. The idea behind this twist is to allow local and provincial governments to host a number of events and to promote the culture of reading in their various communities.

In addition, the new and exciting Book Bus Tour has been launched in Gauteng at the beginning of this week and will travel to events in four provinces. The Book Tour Bus will conclude its journey right here in the Western Cape. The tour bus will feature National Book Week ambassadors, motivational speakers, authors and storytellers that will be making their contribution at the different events in the various provinces.

This year, National Book Week will focus on promoting reading and the use of libraries. It will also be highlighting the use of the Mobile Library Programme, reading in Indigenous Languages, poetry, storytelling, public speaking and Youth Parliament.

The Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport is a proud partner of National Book Week and is committed to ensuring that we continue to provide access to reading material to every corner of this province. That is why it is an honour to host the closing ceremony on Saturday and to showcase our commitment to promoting a reading culture far beyond the festivities of this week.

I will be delivering the key note address at the closing ceremony which will be hosted at the Drakenstein Public Library in Paarl.

We encourage the members of communities in the province and members of the media to attend this event.

 

Media Enquiries: 

Siviwe Gwarube
Spokesperson for Minister Mbombo
Tel: 021 483 9800
Cell: 076 055 6280
E-mail: Siviwe.Gwarube@westerncape.gov.za