Masifunde Sonke: Let Us Read Together

“I would like to propose the following vision of a South Africa with a strong reading culture.

• It would be a nation of avid, lifelong readers who read widely and who value South African literature and languages.
• It would have a government that vigorously promotes the value of reading at national, provincial, regional and local levels,
• It would have an education system that integrates reading at the core of the curriculum, at all levels, and encourages reading for pleasure and lifelong learning.
• It would have a flourishing writing and publishing industry to support the heightened demand for books and other reading materials from the education sector and from the general public.
• It would have a strong library network backed by an equitable book distribution system that ensures that everyone has access to a wide range of reading material, regardless of economic status or geographical location.”

--Elinor Sisulu, Keynote Address, Symposium on Cost of Culture of Reading, September 2004

Masifunde Sonke: Let Us Read Together is an initiative of the South Africa Partners' Libraries for South African Schools (LSAS) Program.  It addresses the need for access to books and library materials in under-resourced South African rural and township schools, and stimulate book publishing in South Africa.  The initiative will also increase opportunities for cross-cultural learning between the United States and South Africa.

Books selected for inclusion in the Masifunde Sonke book list have been chosen because of their high quality and focus on themes of justice, hope, and renewal. All are authored and illustrated by South Africans.  Most are only available in South Africa, but some in the initial list have been republished in the United Kingdom and/or the United States. For each book purchased in the U.S., South Africa Partners will donate one copy of the same book to an under-resourced South African school. A personalized nameplate on the inside front cover of the book will bear the name of the U.S. donor.  

For further information, on book titles, pricing, and ordering please contact Kate Sipples.  An online bookshop will be available shortly. 

Masifunde Sonke is a SA Partners initiative, in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, the Mandela Foundation Rural Schools Programme, the Centre for the Book, and Artists for a New South Africa.

Masifunde Sonke aims to meet four major development goals:

• Increase literacy and a joy of reading among students in rural and township public schools in South Africa by generating funds that can be used to purchase books for South African school libraries, increasing teacher training in the use of books in the classroom, and establishing libraries in township and rural schools.

• Foster an appreciation of South African children’s books in the United States through distributing South African children’s books for purchase in the U.S., promoting the use of South African children’s books among educators and librarians in the U.S., developing study guides for selected South African children’s books, and piloting their use in U.S. schools.

• Facilitate contact and exchanges between South African and U.S. schools, educators, and learners by identifying interested U.S. schools and educators through the sale of South African children’s books, working with partners in South Africa to link U.S. and S.A. schools and educators for ongoing exchanges via email, and assisting U.S. schools that have the resources to develop ongoing exchange visits with their S.A. partner school.

• Stimulate the South African book publishing industry by increasing sales through the demonstrated demand for South African children’s books within the U.S. market, increasing the number of indigenous language books being purchased for use in South Africa, and increasing the demand for high-quality South African children’s books through greater reviews and awards.