Tomorrow afternoon (2 August 2011), Equal Education (EE) will celebrate the opening of the tenth library established through the Bookery Project, at Kayamandi High School in Kayamandi, Stellenbosch.
The project was initiated by two Fulbright Scholars placed at Kayamandi High who decided to help establish a library at the school as part of their internship. They approached EE for assistance and have been actively involved in sorting, labelling, classifying, covering and cataloguing the books. The project is supported by the US Department of State.
St Agnes Primary School
Last week, it was the turn of St Agnes Primary School in Woodstock, Cape Town to open its new library’s doors. The establishment of the library was the result of a collaborative process involving Equal Education, Tullow Oil, FNB, Lewis Stores and the Shine Centre. FNB’s international division helped with the covering and cataloguing of the books (making them the Bookery’s first corporate volunteer), while the Shine Centre, which runs a literacy programme at the school, has undertaken to help with the running of the library.
Dmitri Holtzman delivered a message on behalf of EE. He told learners that their school was now among the 7% of schools in South Africa to have a functional library. However, access to a functional library should not be a privilege enjoyed by only a minority of the country’s learners. While the responsibility to provide schools with libraries ultimately rested with Government, it was important that individuals, communities, organisations and businesses also played their parts, and worked hand-in-hand to address the backlog in school libraries. The establishment of St Agnes Primary’s library was an example of this kind of collaboration.
Western Cape MEC for Education Donald Grant was among those who attended the opening.
For more information on upcoming library openings and ways you can assist the Bookery, contact Cosmas at cosmas@equaleducation.org.za or 021 461 4189.
