The Florida Library in Roodepoort used World Book Day as a platform to teach Royal College matriculants about the Copyright Act, appropriate referencing, and plagiarism. The session, held in collaboration with the University of South Africa (UNISA), was part of a series of week-long celebrations held to celebrate the power of reading to transform lives and the importance of the Copyright Act.
This year, the City of Johannesburg joined the global community in celebrating books and their authors with a range of events designed to inspire and educate children, teenagers, and young people from Ennerdale to Sandton about the power of reading.
UNISA’s Collen Molefe said the engagement was designed to bring into focus the shortfalls of academic institutions in creating awareness on such topics.
“Institutions of higher education are trying to instill these concepts from the first year, but the basic education department should also try to provide this information, especially at the Grade 12 level, as it will also set the expectation for students much earlier,” Molefe said.
The session was strategically held to coincide with World Book Day and Copyright Day, an annual event held on 23 April to raise awareness of the importance of books, reading, and copyright around the world. The day is tailored to honour books, writers, publishers, and copyright through events such as book fairs, literary festivals, author readings, and book donation drives.
McDonald Riugow, a teacher from Royal College, hailed the session, saying he wished more similar events could be held to highlight the importance of literature, particularly for pupils who are in their final year of high school.
“The session delved deeper into the aspects we gradually introduce, and these engagements put emphasis on books being the biggest source of information and other issues prevailing currently,” Riugow said.
His sentiment was echoed by student Ndivhuwo Makhunga, who plans to study either medicine or software engineering next year.
“I’m glad we were given an opportunity to learn about books, copyright, and plagiarism and all their implications before going to university. I’ll be vigilant from now on,” Makhunga said.
The Florida library continues with its efforts to rope in the local community in its projects, as the facility plans to host more similar initiatives.
Written by Pamela Sibiya
24/04/2023