In support of 2010 National Book Week (6-13 September) and specifically International Literacy Day (8 September), Van Schaik Bookstore has donated 5 350 books, to the National Department of Arts and Culture to distribute to under-resourced Gauteng Primary schools and libraries. The hand-over took place on 10 September and books to the value of R148 050 were donated to schools, and R189 000 to community libraries - a total sponsorship of R337 050.
As the preferred and leading academic book supplier in South Africa, Van Schaik is committed to corporate citizen endeavours such as these to be active in promoting and encouraging a reading culture in local communities and schools.
In 2009 they teamed up with CAFDA (Cape Flats Development Association) and called on all Capetonians who love reading, to celebrate World Book Day by donating their unused books to underprivileged learners. In addition they also donated a large number of new books to CAFDA as part of the book-drive.
All donated books were distributed to CAFDA fundraising bookshops, under-resourced schools and to individual learners in need. We take our role in promoting literacy and education very seriously. Our aim is to bring books within reach of every student and school learner studying in Southern Africa, and by doing so contribute towards the education efforts of the United Nations and the people of Southern Africa, said Stephan Erasmus, MD of Van Schaik Bookstore.
Another initiative in the planning phase at this stage is the mobile novel or m-novel as it's called. This creates a platform for children and young people to read books on mobile phones in a format that is relevant and current. Activities beyond the m-novel will be crafted to encourage an interest in creative arts via an engaging array of social media thus making reading impactful outside of the classroom. This chosen platform is MXIT. It is popular, functional and is a media technology that young people are familiar with.
"We believe that the m-novel may be the correct vehicle to engage a new generation of readers that may not have access to libraries and literature for recreational reading. Therefore we feel it's worth investigating the possibilities", Erasmus concluded.
On photo: Ugan Poobalan, Van Schaik Bookstore Business Development Manager at the handover ceremony with Lulu Xingwana, Minister of Arts and Culture