Ms Khuzwayo – a literature hero

The managing librarian of the Murray Park library in Belgravia, Ms Edith Khuzwayo, is a literature hero.

The mother of three believes reading has the power to change lives.

She is dedicated to getting the children of her community to read and said her commitment to uplifting children was inspired by her grade 1 teacher, Mrs Flathela.

“She motivated me by the way she treated children. She fed children, loved them, read to them and comforted the ones who cried. She acted as a powerful mother figure for those who did not have one and I became the woman I am because of her,” said Ms Khuzwayo.

She manages the day-to-day running of the library, runs the literacy development programmes that are open to the community, holds reading and poetry groups ,writing sessions and also has a session where she helps children with their schoolwork.

Ms Khuzwayo has overcome a number of challenges in her life and reading empowered her.

“I believe that books and reading is a crucial way to empower girls by offering them a way to develop their own identities,” said Ms Khuzwayo.

She believes spending time with your children, while reading, also helps them to perform better academically.

“Books teach your child thinking skills early on in their lives. When you read to children, they begin to understand cause and effect. They exercise logic, think in abstract terms and learn the consequences of actions – the basics of what is right and wrong. On top of that, it’s the one thing we can all do with our children at home to help our children perform better academically,” said Ms Khuzwayo.

Ms Khuzwayo runs a reading campaign at the library, which is one of her most loved campaigns because she gets to work with children which is her passion.

Nal’ibali is a campaign by Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA). It emphasises the importance of inspiring a love of reading in children to get them motivated to read, so that reading is not seen to be a chore or something only to be done at school.

“The Nal’ibali supplements are used all the time in my library. I enjoy the process of showing the children how to make the cut-out-and-keep books inside the supplement, which we read together and display in the library whenever we can. Nal’ibali, through their resources, has shown me how to make reading a more fun and exciting activity for children so they are left wanting to read more,” said Ms Khuzwayo.

Her life has not always been about books.

Ms Khuzwayo grew up in a home without books and these are some of the many reasons why she introduced her own children to reading. She takes pride in being a reading role model to them.

Ms Khuzwayo believes reading to your children is important because it not only benefit the children, it benefits the parent and child as you spend time together.

“If parents don’t read, children are more reluctant to read too. I have three children – two teenagers and a six-year-old. I always bring books back for the teens and they love discussing them with me, which the little one picks up on too,” said Ms Khuzwayo.

“It’s so important that we’re able to help each child who walks through the library’s door, irrespective of their age, to not just be able to read and write, but to love reading and writing to grow a culture of reading in SA,” said Ms Khuzwayo.