WE NEED YOUR HELP!
We need 1,000 children’s books for our Street Libraries and reading programmes. You can help us by donating to buy a book or a part of a book. We have curated a list of children’s books that we will use to stock our Street Libraries and take along for our reading programmes.
This is the collection we’re providing in 2024, in at least five languages each:
uLonwabo neGongqongqo | The First Story Ever Told | A Multilingual ABC | Kwezi 1–3 | My Big Name | Nala Sings | Know my name
Our Street Libraries
We have adopted two outdoor township libraries – one in Alexandra and another in Soweto. We stock these libraries every month to ensure that these communities have access to an ever-changing and ever-growing selection of books. We plan to build more of these throughout Joburg, starting with Library Gardens.
Find out how you can help here.
Storytime Readings
We host Storytime Saturday every week, either at Bridge Books or around the corner at Ernest Oppenheimer Park. With this initiative, we hope to revitalise the art of oral narrative, and to give children a fun and enriching activity on the weekend. Our readers bring stories to life in all South African languages, depending on the week’s audience. We want the kids in the neighbourhood to know that kids like them can be on the covers of books, too.
We also work in collaboration with the Alliance Française. With monthly storytelling events, we support their mission of bringing South African cultures to French expats living in Joburg, encouraging them to introduce their children to more South African stories. Plenty of local children from our area come to listen, too, and to join in on the djembe drum circle.
We also have a partnership with Salvazione, a school in Mayfair. We do readings there once a week for grades 0 to 3.
Greening the park
One of our biggest objectives with adopting the Library Gardens park is to make sure it stays green. We recently planted a flower bed and we are hoping to continue planting and eventually get more grass to cover the park.
The Underground Bookseller Tour
Dozens of booksellers sell their wares in the LitDistrict. These booksellers provide easy access to books to the thousands of people in the city centre. We have fostered a relationship with these underground sellers, connecting them with publishers so that they can continue to provide the community with new books. We are working together as a neighbourhood to foster more of a reading culture that we hope will spread from our home to many others.
Support and buy pre-loved books
We have a collection of second-hand books in great condition. Proceeds from sales help us keep our district clean and full of literary magic.