Empower young minds: Nominate a school to win a trolley library

Avbob, in partnership with Oxford University Press Southern Africa (OUPSA), has kicked off the 2024 edition of its annual Road to Literacy campaign.

This is the third year that the two companies have join forces to help empower young minds by donating mobile trolley libraries to deserving primary schools and educational nonprofit organisations (NPOs) nominated by the public.

It's an inspiring initiative that aims to address the severe literacy crisis revealed in the latest Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) findings from 2021.

The PIRLS exposed a critical challenge: 75% of South African schools face a shortage of reading materials — a stark contrast to the international average of 45%. Furthermore, grade 4 learners struggle to read for meaning, with 81% demonstrating an inability to comprehend written texts in any language in 2021 — an increase from 78% in 2016. SA ranked last among the 57 participating countries, which underscores the urgency for effective interventions.

“Today's investment in literacy and numeracy is tomorrow's harvest of empowered leaders. Every child, regardless of background, deserves the key to unlock boundless potential through reading and critical thinking skills,” says Kebo Mosweusweu, Avbob's GM of shared value and sustainability.

Bigger and better

First launched in 2022, the Avbob Road to Literacy campaign continues to grow and expand its reach and impact each year.

In 2024, an impressive 500 trolley libraries will be donated to primary schools and educational NPOs in need. This marks a substantial increase from the 260 trolley libraries donated in 2023 and the 180 donated in 2022.

Each trolley library will be fully stocked by OUPSA with 500 books tailored to the CAPS curriculum and published in any one of SA's 11 official languages — that's an incredible 250,000 books in total, surpassing the 130,000 books donated last year and the 77,400 given away in 2022.

The estimated value of each trolley library is R65,000, with the total investment value of this year's Avbob Road to Literacy campaign being R32.5m.

How can you nominate a school?

Click here to visit the Avbob Road to Literacy website and fill in the simple nomination form before March 30.

You'll need to nominate a South African primary school or educational NPO serving learners in grade R to grade 7, motivate why you think this institution deserves to win a trolley library, and specify which language the books in this library should be published in. 

The winners will be announced in June. The handover of the trolley libraries to the beneficiaries will be facilitated by Avbob local offices in partnership with OUPSA and representatives from the selected schools and NPOs.

This article was sponsored by Avbob.