Se7en’s Build a Library Book by Book Project And A Call For Books…

Welcome to World Book Day. Quite possibly the best day of the year. The day of the year that we have to think and talk and dream about books… books we have loved, books we have shared, books we are excited about. And books that we are really looking forward to reading in the future. There are so many books that inspire us to do great things, books that leave us wondering how other folk did great things… books really are windows to the world, we can see things we couldn’t ever have imagined, we experience feelings that we haven’t felt before, we can visit places, we can visit people from the past, from the future… Books literally open the World for us.

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Se7en Builds a Library Book by Book

Once a year, with the help of our blog followers we try and open up the world for a local community school in desperate need of books. We try and choose a school that has no access to books, and certainly no books that will fire up a child’s imagination. This year the school we have chosen is in a small town, Macassar, on the outskirts of the City of Cape Town. It is an area where unemployment, substance abuse and gang related violence are part of the local environment. The children in this area do not come from a culture of books, many parents would not have finished school and will not have good reading skills themselves. This is a tough neighbourhood to grow up in, without the privilege of bed time stories, well any stories really. The school is a primary school with about 1000 children and no library facilities whatsoever and no local community library at all. It is hard to imagine a school with out books and even harder to imagine a childhood without books.

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We are calling on all our followers to gift us with books that will inspire and excite these youngsters to read more, books that will open up their world and help them to dream bigger dreams. We have done it before and we can do it again, we firmly believe that book by book we can create a library for these children. At the moment their library facility is a book corner with a few “learn to read” type books… but wouldn’t it be brilliant if we could expand that corner, put a real book shelf in it and fill it up with books that would excite and inspire the children and encourage them to dream bigger dreams. Many of these children would never have been further from home than their school… they live one of the most beautiful cities in the world, yet they may never have been to the beach or walked on Table Mountain… lets use books and show these children the whole wide world.

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These kids desperately need a library, and you can help us build it.

How the Build a Library Book by Book Project Works

We are looking for new or nearly new books to gift to these children. We would like to gift these children with wonderful books that inspire them to dream big. We will be visiting the school in May and opening up the packages that you sent for the children with them… so we would like you to send us a package with one or two books inside it. Books that you would like to give your children or books that your children would like to give their friends.

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Aramex Can Help You

If you live in South Africa, things just gotta a whole lot easier for you: Go through your bookshelves and choose a couple of books that your children have read and then: Did you know that anywhere in South Africa… you can head for your nearest Pick ‘n Pay and pop the books into an Aramex Bag… and for R99. they will ship your bag of books to us… whatever you can squeeze into that bag… all from the convenience of your local Pick ‘n Pay store. It doesn’t get easier than that.

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The Superb SuperNova Magazine

Otherwise, the fabulous SuperNova Magazine are gifting the school with an entire collection of their magazines, from the beginning to the end!!! And they will match anything our readers buy on their website… and donate that to the school as well… It is a pretty fantastic offer and easy way to send our library fun things to read. If you haven’t seen their funky factual magazine for kids then take a look at this post… If you would like to join Super Nova Magazine and have them match your purchases then follow this link:

Use the coupon code: ”7+1” (no spaces) in their shop and they will know to match it. You can also leave a note in the notes panel.

So How Can You Help to Build a Library?

Step 1: Select a Book or Books

  1. You can search through your books for gently used books that your children have outgrown or no longer love. Remember these books are gifts, we will visit the school when they unpack them. Loved books are great, over-loved books… not so much, and old tattered textbooks from your college days that have been used as door stops… really not at all.
  2. You can buy a book or two with your children and package them up.
  3. You can shop at Amazon and ship directly.
  4. And you can shop on-line, locally at Loot, or Reader’s Warehouse (where a little cash goes a long way) and ship directly as well.

While all the students do learn English, many of the learners have Afrikaans or Xhosa as their first language. English books are very welcome, so are books in Afrikaans and Xhosa. Any books will be great, story books, picture books, craft books, cook books, reference books… really any books. There is a large community being served here. If you are shopping overseas and would like to buy local language books then click on the South African vendor to find books and they will deliver locally for you.

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Step 2: Contact us.

Leave a comment and tell us that you intend to help or contact us. I will reply to you all as soon as I can with the shipping details, with the address to send the books you have chosen. There is a human person behind each and every email (that would be me) and they take time… please be patient the address will get to you.

Step 3: Let us Know All About the Books You Chose

We would love if you could photograph the books you are sending, if you shop on-line then just send us a list of the books that you ordered. If you have a blog and write about it then let us know and we will have a Progress Post almost weekly. I will pop the photo’s you send into the blog post and if you do have a blog there will be a chance for you to link up as well…

Step 4: There is a Deadline…

We would like to deliver the books that we personally collect and accumulate during May, so while you can ship anytime… we are hoping to end this campaign in the middle of May.

Finally, I have sent emails out with the shipping details, to all the folk that I had on our list. If you didn’t receive an email and you have put your name down already… then please forgive me, and leave a comment below, I will email you the details as soon as I hear from you.

4 Replies to “Se7en’s Build a Library Book by Book Project And A Call For Books…”

  1. Such an exiting project. We shipped ours to you yesterday. And I’m glad to say we included an Afrikaans reader. Wonder where one can get books in Xhosa

  2. Thank you so much MrsFF, you have no idea how thrilled to have you join our library project. I know you can get Xhosa books locally, in the Western/Eastern Cape… but you wouldn’t get them further afield. Thank a million again!!!

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