The Qualibooks Group opened its doors to the media on Thursday as part of commemorating the International Literacy Week from 2 to 8 September.
The media tour offered a sneak peek into their innovative digital library platform, kibooks.online. Qualibooks say it uses technology to help close the literacy gap and encourage children's love for reading.
Kibooks.online is a subscription-based platform providing access to a vast online library, allowing young readers to explore over 8 000 digital books. The platform has seen impressive engagement, with over 400 000 books accessed, 6 million pages read, and 28 000 reading hours logged.
At the event, attendees had the opportunity to tour Qualibooks’ 1100-square metre warehouse, which houses around one million books. These books are sold in the Qualibooks bookstore, are used to upgrade school libraries and fill the brand’s mobile Wheelie Book Wagons.
The founder and CEO of the Qualibooks Group, Niël Wilken, said they have endeavoured to boost access to much-needed reading resources for over 30 years. “This event was our opportunity to give the media a behind-the-scenes look at what we do and how we do it.”
Representatives from non-profit organisation Education is Our Future were also in attendance and spoke about their efforts to promote literacy in rural areas. Partnering with Qualibooks in 2017 boosted their shared mission to improve education in South Africa.
The theme for this year's International Literacy Day was 'Promoting multilingual education: Literacy for mutual understanding and peace'.
"This message aligns closely with our mission to produce more books in all of South Africa’s 11 official languages. We understand the value of giving children access to books and literature in their home languages and the role this plays in developing a sense of pride in their heritage and identity,” said Wilken.
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