With just a few days away from the commemoration of World Book and Copyright Day this Friday, 23 April, Woodhurst Library is on a mission to get the community and learners of Chatsworth reading and leading.
Woodhurst librarian, Noma Ngcobo, said reading feeds the imagination and improves literacy. “In celebrating World Book and Copyright Day, we felt that the library needed a pop of colour to brighten up our patrons’ experience, encouraging them to come back to our library. We underwent new renovations over the strict lockdown period last year so that our patrons would not be affected. These renovations now allow for our patrons to get excited about reading once again even though we are not having a sit-in setup.” Ngcobo said their aim was to make the library more desirable while taking into account all Covid-19 protocols. “Because of Covid-19, we had to take floor measurements of our facility in order to determine the amount of people allowed on the premises at a certain time with sufficient social distancing space. With our library measurements, we are permitted to have 20 people in it at a time. When patrons come in, they are given a ticket outside which helps us keep track of the amount of people on the premises. They are also given a time constraint of 15 minutes.” Ngcobo said the time constraint was based off research which confirmed that the maximum amount of time considered to be ‘close contact’ with an infected person was 15 minutes or more.
“We are just trying to show that a library does not have to be a boring and dull place. There is so much to explore and learn and we have been strict in creating new measures to ensure the safety of our patrons. Therefore, we urge our community to come forth and engage with us at the library through our programmes. Patrons can rest assured since our books are isolated in quarantine before they are put up on the shelf after each use.” The library also hosts a book club for Falcon Park Primary learners, since 2019. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the club meetings had to be postponed until further notice. Ngcobo is eager to host more exciting programmes with learners of Woodhurst in the near future.
