Being part of the opening of the Library at Thembelihle High School on Friday was one of the greatest privileges I have experienced. As members of this movement, we have set our sights on a task which often seems overwhelming. More than this, the depressed state of education in this country – and the politics we have to engage in to change it – attempts constantly to distract us from our task.
Being present at that library opening, I felt as though I was observing a hospital patient get up after a heart transplant. And that is precisely what a school library should be. Our education system in South Africa is a lot like the tin-man in search of a heart in the fairly-tale by L. Frank Baum, 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'. That tin-man represents all that is soul-less and mechanical in the 'system' so many depend on for access to their basic right to education. Indeed it is a system that cannot pay attention to detail, cannot respond to the individual needs of learners. It is a system where matric learners can be examined on books they have never seen. It is a system that is in desperate need of a heart. A vibrant library is now the beating heart within Thembelihle High School.
