The National Reading Coalition (NRC), in partnership with the Department of Basic Education (DBE), the National Library of South Africa and Nal’ibali, is gearing up to host its first virtual book club reading session.
The session, which will take place on 14 December from 16:30 to 18:30, is one of 12 annual virtual reading sessions that NRC is coordinating, to connect readers and clubs nationally.
The NRC was established by the DBE and National Education Collaboration Trust as a comprehensive national response to the reading challenges facing SA.
Furthermore, it coordinates the development and implementation of a national reading improvement strategy, and functions as an agile, self-sustaining network of reading initiatives.
The first virtual book club session will be a discussion of Americanah, a 2013 novel by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The author won the 2013 US National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction.
The DBE explains: “The objectives of this reading session are to inculcate the culture of reading in South Africans across all ages and maximise reading networks across the country.
“The first 50 participants to the virtual book launch will get a voucher from Exclusive Books to the value of R300.”
In his State of the Nation Address last year, president Cyril Ramaphosa emphasised the importance of cultivating a reading nation to unlock opportunities that flow from a broadened understanding of the country and the world.
Since launching in 2019, the NRC has supported the Read to Lead campaign and Ramaphosa’s call to improve reading nationally – from the classroom to the living room.
Individuals and reading club members will be invited to join a reading network that will take up the president’s challenge of reading at least one book per month.
Readers can register for the virtual book club by clicking here.
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