With literacy at the forefront of our thinking, the establishment of libraries in our partner countries was a natural step forward. In these dedicated book havens, children at last have the fun of picking out a story and settling down to read.
From the first School Aid library at Heatherdale Primary School in South Africa, opened in 2014, we have gone on to develop a small network of dedicated centres of reading, with the most recent opening at Lithabaneng Primary School in Lesotho in May 2019. Now, with 25 School Aid libraries across South Africa, Lesotho, Malawi and Tanzania, we have built a solid foundation for the future.
With our support, each library has a dedicated library assistant, whose role – as well as looking after the library itself – is to encourage learners of all ages to read for pleasure as well as for study. Thanks to our generous donors, picture books, story books, reference books and more – many of them sumptuously illustrated – adorn the shelves, enticing these learners to browse at their leisure. As they look beyond the covers, they are opening their eyes to a wealth of experiences – and sowing the seeds of lifelong learning.