In line with an intentional drive at WIS to promote and educate for reading, our students made an impressive start with this project:

Take a Book, Leave a Book 

Increasing Literacy Rates One Page at a Time

Who says libraries need to be in a building? Why can’t they be on the roadside? A Little Library works on a “Take a Book, Leave a Book” free exchange, similar to normal libraries. They are usually in the

form of a bookshelf, filled with books that anyone in the community can access at any time. As a result, Little Libraries cultivate camaraderie through a shared love of reading in a community. On November 27th, WIS, in partnership with Umbrella Initiatives and Mel Marisaki (founder of Little Libraries in Namibia), officially launched a Little Library at PAY Namibia. 

Mel Marisaki approached the then grade 11, now grade 12 students, to undertake her passion project of building Little Libraries in Namibia as their CAS projects. She shared that her motivation was to foster a reading culture in Namibia as a means to increase literacy rates. The New Era states that, “Every year, many students fail to enrol for tertiary programmes of their choice due to the fact that they do not possess the required minimum symbol in the English language in their school-leaving certificates.” Additionally, 90% of Namibians do not have English as their first language; therefore, it is of utmost importance to ensure children are reading. 

A group of grade 12 students (Tapiwa, Pandu, Jade, Naeem, Saima and Ndapewa), with assistance from Ms Heike, Mr Antonio and Mr Benedict, transformed an old bookshelf into an operational Little Library. The makeover involved fortifying, designing, painting and then finally installing the Little Library. However, our school’s charity didn’t end there.  The WIS community took the initiative to go a further step and organised a full minibus of books to donate and further the cause. 

During the inauguration, Mel Marisaki and Justina Shikongo (Coordinator at PAY) shared how thankful they are to the WIS community. The inauguration was filled with hope and excitement for a future where universal access to education is just one Little Library away.

Margarete Reiff

High School Principal/Deputy Director & Career Guidance Counsellor