Weekly Digital Story time with Gwyneth
A librarian who was inspired to create a digital story time by reading books to children virtually encourages the whole of the West Rand to get reading again.
On March 23, 2020, the President addressed the country and declared a national lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak. It meant that many organisations could not operate as usual. One of them was the Weltevreden Park Public Library in Roodepoort.
However, Gwyneth Perry, their senior librarian came up with an innovative way of ensuring that children still got their weekly knowledge dosage.
She was inspired to create a digital story time by recording herself while reading books to children. She sent her videos to her e-learning manager, and he uploaded them on the Joburg Libraries Facebook page.
“I submitted one video story to him, and he published it on April 28, 2020. We decided that we would make it on a Thursday morning at 09:00, and I think I have only missed one in the about two years and three months,” said Perry.
This programme is specifically for children between three and ten years old, and its main aim was to provide a more convenient service for children since the library was closed and physical programmes were proscribed.
Although the country is no longer under lockdown and organisations are operating again, Perry decided to continue with her programme since the community had responded to it positively.
As a result of her hard work and dedication, Perry now has viewers from other parts of the world. “What excites me is that I have people from the United States and New Zealand watching, so it has spread way beyond,” she added.
She also plans on expanding her programme to other popular social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
Perry encourages reading across all corners of the West Rand.
“It is an excellent exercise for the mind. Children who read grow up to have better cognitive skills. Reading does play a prominent role in our daily lives.”
