Nal’ibali and libraries: activating reading together

In this paper I discuss the Nal’ibali reading-for-enjoyment campaign in relation to the role of libraries and librarians in South Africa. Nal’ibali aims to re-ignite a passion for storytelling and reading among adults and children as an urgent strategic intervention to transform children’s opportunities for becoming readers and writers. The campaign grows from the view that despite the fact that the majority of children continue to do really badly in school literacy learning, all children, and not only children of the English speaking elite can and should learn to become literate through personally meaningful and satisfying encounters with print. I will outline how Nal’ibali collaborates with libraries on events, training and support for reading clubs and offers materials in relevant languages as part of the campaign. Initiated by PRAESA in 2012 jointly with the DG Murray Trust, the campaign has begun to help inspire and motivate librarians to be the reading role models needed by children so that their language and literacy learning has a chance to flourish. I share ideas and challenges in the progress we are making as we nurture biliteracy and literary roots with libraries.