The City of Johannesburg Library Services’ poster on an innovative reading development programme, Mobireadathon, will be displayed at the Taiwan Reading Festival in December 2022. It follows a public request by the National Central Library of Taiwan for international libraries to submit their innovative reading programmes that will be displayed during the two-day festival in two months.
The City of Johannesburg’s Mobireadathon poster was selected among the 14 posters from 12 countries, with Johannesburg representing Africa. The selected posters are from 10 countries and 12 libraries in Argentina, Germany, Greece, Korea, Malaysia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, United Arab Emirates and the USA.
The festival is a national event organised by the National Central Library of Taiwan, part of the Republic of China, which is aimed at promoting reading for all. It will be held from 3-4 December 2022 at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park.
According to the festival organisers, in considering the value of international culture and best practice experiences exchanges, the NCL decided to have a special International Poster Zone to display posters of other libraries from different countries all over the world. Selected posters will be displayed on-site on the activity days and online at the official website of the festival
The City of Joburg’s Mobireadathon is a reading development programme aimed at introducing high school pupils to reading and writing tools available on mobile devices. Schools compete regionally, reading selected stories either uploaded onto e-readers. They can also use their own mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, or laptops to read selected stories from recommended platforms such as FunDza.mobi or the www.cojelearning.org.za website.
Libraries in Region B hosted a successful Mobireadathon on Friday, 14 October 2022, at Randburg Library. Grade 8 pupils from De La Salle High School, Oceans Private School, Greenside High School and Northcliff High School, which won during a tough final round.
Certificates and medals were awarded to all the participants.
This reading development programme is also an attempt to address some of the challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic where libraries and schools have had to adapt and embrace technology for learning, reading development and information services in general.
Digital transformation in libraries also challenges libraries to repackage traditional programs or introduce new programs that involve the use of technology. The idea is to not only engage pupils in a reading activity using technology but also introduce them to mobile literacy (how to use their smart devices productively to find books and to even write stories later) and to navigate digital platforms to find reading material.
18/10/2022