Sony Donates 9,000 Books to South African Children

Into its 8th year, the South Africa Mobile Library Project in Singapore continues to see strong engagement from the local community

  

(SINGAPORE, 28 January 2016) – The 2015 South Africa Mobile Library Book Donation Project organised by the Sony Group of Companies in Singapore has successfully donated 9,000 books to South African children. With generous contributions from schools, members of the public as well as Sony employees in Singapore, the three-month project concluded in December 2015. The books are now on their way to South Africa, with support from K-Line.

Here in Singapore, Sony has been engaging the local community in this meaningful project by inviting them to donate books. 2015 is the 8^th year in which the project has been running and it saw the participation of the following 7 schools:

•      Anglo-Chinese School (Primary)

•      Bishan Park Secondary School

•      Chua Chu Kang Primary School

•      Commonwealth Secondary School

•      Global Indian International School (East Coast )

•      River Valley Primary School

•      Nanyang Primary School

Besides collecting books, the participating schools were also involved in sorting, tagging and packing the books. This provided students the opportunity for project management and teamwork. Some schools extended the book collection to homes in their neighborhood, while others encouraged their students to go the extra mile to write short book reviews and inspirational messages, which were inserted into the books for the South African children. This helps to create communication between students in both countries and lends a personal touch to the whole project.

 Clockwise, from top left: Students from River Valley Primary School, Chua Chu Kang Primary School, Commonwealth Secondary School, Nanyang Primary School, Bishan Park Secondary School, Global Indian International School (East Coast), and Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) contributing to the South Africa Mobile Library Project.

Besides the schools and students, members of the public were also invited to donate books at the Sony Store @ 313 Somerset. Books were once again contributed by the National Library Board as part of their continuous support towards the cause of the project.

Since the project’s inception in 2008, more than 170,000 books have been collected through joint initiatives by 13 Sony Group companies in 10 countries across the globe. The mobile library services have also been expanded to cover all nine provinces in South Africa, with 50 mobile libraries in operation, reaching out to over 900 schools. For more information on Sony’s support for this project, please visit: www.sony.net/library

About the South Africa Mobile Library Project

Tad Hasunuma, former Managing Director of Sony South Africa, established SAPESI (South Africa Primary Education Support Initiative), a NGO based in South Africa, to conduct the mobile library project in partnership with the South Africa Department of Basic Education, with the aim of improving the literacy levels of the children in South Africa. The project acquires used mobile libraries from Japan to South Africa, where provincial departments of education operate them to provide the loan of books to children and teachers at local schools that do not possess these materials. The mobile libraries visit the schools and the librarians onboard advise teachers at the schools how to select the appropriate books and use them in their lessons. As a result, not only do the children gain an opportunity to interact with a diverse range of books, but teachers are also able to learn how to utilize the materials, and maximize their potential. For information on SAPESI, please visit: www.sapesi.org.za/