Create a free library for kids
Special Nal’ibali calendar acts as a guide for children to collect 30 stories this year
TO HELP set caregivers up to read with their children in the new year, Nal’ibali – the national reading-for-enjoyment campaign, has compiled a special calendar highlighting some of the major literacy activities taking place this year.
Complete with instructions on how to collect the cut-out-and-keep storybooks included in each edition of the campaign’s multilingual supplement, it will also assist young or new readers to collect and build their own mini-libraries during the year.
“We’re excited about this resource which we hope will help to promote a culture of reading-for-enjoyment in our country,” Nal’ibali managing director Jade Jacobsohn said.
“Most South African families live beyond easy reach of a public library and very few households have their own collection of storybooks for children to read or choose from.
“By using the calendar as a guide, caregivers and teachers can help children collect 30 stories this year and create their own personalised story-powered book boxes to keep them in.”
Research shows that children who are exposed to books and stories in their home languages, and who are read to regularly and right from birth, do better than their peers in the classroom, regardless of their social standing or economic circumstances.
To increase access to stories and literacy materials in different South African languages, Nal’ibali donates and delivers more than 100 000 copies of its supplement to schools, libraries, reading clubs and fellow literacy organisations every second week during the school terms.
Members of the public can find copies in selected newspaper titles, or download them directly from the Nal’ibali website.
Created in partnership with the award-winning literacy organisation, PRAESA (the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa), the stories carried in the supplement are selected to promote and support South African authors and illustrators, and to expose children to a variety of different languages and drawing styles.
Stories are reproduced free of charge with special permission from the publishers and translated by PRAESA.
The supplement is published in six different language combinations including English-isi-Zulu, English-isi-Xhosa, English-Afrikaans and English-Sepedi, and this year the campaign is excited to be adding Xitsonga and Setswana to this list from April.
“There is a need for collective action in motivating South African children to read, and it needs to be consistent.
“However small adults and caregivers may think this simple activity is, regularly spending time reading and sharing stories with children can have a massive and cumulative impact – helping them to reach their life potential,” Jacobsohn said.
To encourage continued reading throughout the year, Nal’ibali will award spot prizes of additional books in a range of South African languages to readers who share pictures of their growing libraries on its Facebook page and Twitter feed (@NalibaliSA).
Nal’ibali supplements can be found in the Tiso Blackstar newspapers listed below, or downloaded directly from the Nal’ibali website (www.nalibali.org) where copies of the calendar can also be accessed.
ý KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng: Sunday World – Sunday (English/ isiZulu)
ý Free State: Sunday World – Sunday (English/Sesotho)
ý Limpopo: Sunday World – Sunday (English/Sepedi)
ý Western Cape – Sunday Times Express – Sunday (English/isiXhosa)
ý Eastern Cape – Daily Dispatch – Tuesday (English/isiXhosa)
ý Eastern Cape – The Herald – Thursday (English/isiXhosa)
For more information about the Nal’ibali reading-for-enjoyment campaign, and free children’s stories in a range of South African languages, visit www.nalibali.org, www.nalibali.mobi, or find them on Facebook or Twitter: nalibaliSA.