Dainfern Community Workshop and BAGS Of Love deliver mobile libraries to Diepsloot centre
Four mobile libraries packed with children’s books have been donated to the Wot-If? Trust in Diepsloot in a community-driven effort to encourage reading and improve literacy among young children.
A collaboration between the Dainfern Community Workshop (DCW) and Susan Harwood’s Bags of Love initiative is bringing books closer to children in the township.
On September 4, members of the DCW and Bags of Love delivered four specially designed mobile libraries to the Wot-If? Trust, based at the Father Louis Blondel Centre in Diepsloot. Harwood said the initiative was born from a conversation between her and trust founder Gail Styger about the country’s high illiteracy rate and the need to encourage children to develop a love of reading. “I then approached DCW founder Michael Minassian to see whether the workshop could create bookcases that would be practical, durable and suitable for use at community and school events,” she said. The workshop team embraced the challenge, producing four unique, lockable mobile libraries.
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Minassian, Sylvester Motaln, Dave Wibberley and Lara Cassell represented the workshop’s woodwork team at the handover, while Shane van Jaarsveldt, Manny Texeira, Johanna Gantiva and Valeria Pizzotti painted the illustrations. The bookcases feature an innovative clip-on face board that secures the books when the units are not in use and doubles as a blackboard for children.
Much of the project’s funding came from DCW members, with additional contributions from Bags of Love and Dainfern residents. Residents also donated about 300 children’s books to stock the libraries. The libraries will be used at the Father Louis Blondel Centre, which provides free services to about 2 000 community members each month, including a homework assistance programme, and will also be taken to school events to promote reading.
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Nokwanda Zakiyyah Shabangu, who runs the trust, said the initiative demonstrated the value of long-term partnerships in tackling community challenges. “The collaborative project demonstrates how building long-standing relationships allows us to close the gap on nuanced challenges, such as literacy support for our young children,” she said.
She added that reading helps children develop critical thinking skills and broaden their perspectives, and the project will encourage a stronger culture of reading within the community.
The book collection will continue, with members of the public invited to donate children’s books. Books can be delivered to Bags of Love on Wednesdays between 08:30 and 11:30.
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