Project Literacy brings book bus to Khula Sizwe Primary
Mobile library boosts reading access during Library Week.
Project Literacy, an NPO dedicated to improving education, continues to support disadvantaged communities through literacy programs aimed at bridging the gap and addressing South Africa’s growing literacy challenges in schools.
In celebration of Library Week, Project Literacy and its partners visited Khula Sizwe Primary on March 20 with their initiative, The Big Blue Book Bus.
The bus acts as a mobile library, providing children with access to a variety of books in different languages.
Yanda Tolobisa from Project Literacy explained that the bus visits four primary schools for a week, once a month, but acknowledged that this is not enough for children to regularly access books.
“We need corporates to assist us in building libraries, ensuring children have unlimited access to books,” Tolobisa said.
Yanda Nako from READ, one of the programme’s partners, added that many children struggle to read for meaning.
Through their work, the organisation empowers learners and provides schools with books to help children improve their literacy skills.
Photo: Braden-Lee Mokoena
“Reading is an important foundation for literacy. It helps with articulation, broadens thinking, and builds vocabulary,” Nako said.
Khula Sizwe Primary principal, Lousia Maiyane Matshediso, emphasised the value of such initiatives, noting that many communities do not prioritise reading or fully understand its importance, especially in today’s digital age.
Photo: Braden-Lee Mokoena
She added that the school promotes reading every day, not just during Library Week, through its Drop All and Read programme, which runs from Tuesday to Friday mornings.
All staff, including security personnel and kitchen staff, read alongside learners.
Parents are encouraged to read and play with their children to help develop literacy skills. Project Literacy reminds families that home is a child’s first classroom, and parents are their first teachers.
