Africa’s first Little Free Library is set up at Emmarentia Dam
EMMARENTIA – Tanya Meyer aims to build trust in the community.
EMMARENTIA – Northcliff High School pupil Tanya Meyer has set up the first Little Free Library in Africa. On a Rotary exchange trip to Holland in December last year, she discovered the Little Free Library initiative.
She explained, “It’s a bit like geocaching, where treasure is hidden around the world and you can find the GPS coordinates on the app. The Little Free Library is the same principle. But if you take a book, you have to replace it with one of your books.”
When asked about scepticism some may have about the project, the Matric pupil brushed it off. “People are sceptical because they distrust the community and they don’t want to get involved. I want to try and change that.”
Emmarentia Resident’s Association chairperson Wolfgang Phoenix is very impressed with Tanya’s initiative and wishes there were more people like her to get involved. “She came to us before she went to Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo and we felt it was a great idea, and that we would support her with whatever she needed. She needed minimal guidance from us but we put her in touch with the right people,” he said.
Other members present included the immediate past vice president of the Rotary Club Northcliff, Paul Westcott, and Emmarentia Resident’s Association executive committee member for town planning, Gemey Abrahams. Abrahams commended Tanya on her initiative and tenacity to navigate the bureaucratic red tape with which she no doubt had to contend.
As the library has been registered on the official website www.littlefreelibrary.org it is officially the first in the whole of Africa. It can be found at the Johannesburg Botanical Garden, Emmarentia, next to the first bench and is available to the public. Important to note, if a book is taken it must be swapped out by another.
