Nal’ibali, the nationwide reading-for-enjoyment campaign which aims to spark children’s potential through reading and storytelling, is supporting caregivers in kick-starting their children’s 2019 school year by giving away 20 mini-libraries fully stocked with story books in different South African languages.      Research shows that children who read for pleasure, do better across all school subjects, including Maths. However, to keep children reading, it’s helpful to understand what motivates them to read.  According to American researchers, Kathryn Edmunds and Kathryn Bauserman, the following factors influence children’s reading behaviours.    Children are more...

Increasing pressure on the publishing industry, plus a shrinking reading culture, hasn't changed the enormous lifelong benefit of reading to children from early childhood. With South Africa having eleven official languages, how do we ensure children across the country access these benefits in their mother tongue? By Jade Jacobsohn, Managing Director at Nal’ibali.  ------------- According to UNESCO, “Illiteracy and poverty constitute a mutually reinforcing, vicious cycle...

I grew up in a community that did not have many libraries. I was born and raised in Gugulethu. The only thing we did every Saturday morning was go to Luyolo Arts Centre and listen to a few ladies telling us about girl guides. Needless to say, this was boring, it felt like an un-official church. I listened anyway.  I wanted more for myself...

Reading-for-joy as a strategy for development must be a priority on South Africa’s agenda. In fact, it needs to be our next big revolution, says Dr Sebabatso Manoeli. As Literacy Month ended in September, it is vital that our literacy woes do not fall to the wayside until the month of September rolls back round again. We have heard repeatedly that, according to the most...