The City of Johannesburg’s (COJ) Libraries have been shortlisted for the London Book Fair International Excellence Awards 2020 for the Library of the Year Award.
The annual fair is a book-publishing trade event. It is a global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels.
COJ Libraries (SA) is vying for the top prize with Maadi Public Library (Egypt) and Shanghai Library (China).
The submission from Johannesburg entailed:
- A number of libraries within the city that have done excellent work in implementing eLearning programmes, working with very limited resources, and continuous introduction of technology-based reading- and writing-development programmes.
- COJ Libraries eLearning programmes that have changed the lives of thousands of children through the mobile literacy reading- and story-development programme since 2017.
- Collaboration with NGOs and initiating of various gamification activities involving reading and writing.
- Expansion of the programme by introducing various reading apps, such as the recently launched Google Bolo app, and African storybook app, where children use tablets to access reading material, read and create stories by themselves.
The awards run from March 9 to 15 at the Pergola Olympia, London. This hugely popular event has seen more than 50 nations receive recognition since the awards started.
Issued by the City of Johannesburg
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