at the opening of the fourth national Toy Library Conference, Randburg
15 October 2007
Programme Director
Ms Cynthia Morrison
Chairperson of Active Learning and Leisure Libraries South Africa (ALL-SA), Ms
Avrille Gork
Conference delegates
Distinguished guest, Dr Christine Powell
Ladies and gentlemen
Good afternoon
It is, indeed, a privilege for me to be invited to open this conference. I
am particularly happy that you did not ask me to do the keynote address as I am
not an expert on the subject of toy libraries or, better still, active learning
and leisure libraries. Let me, at the outset, congratulate Active Learning and
Leisure Libraries South Africa for the sterling work they have been doing since
the establishment of the organisation in 1993. The role you have played and
which you are still playing, as an organisation as well as the role played by
individual Toy Libraries that of ensuring that little children develop their
full potential, is highly commendable.
In an article by Elizabeth Pretorius which was looking at the relationship
between reading ability and academic achievement, she refers to an article
which appeared in the Sunday Times on 16 July 2000, with a headline which read
"South African pupils are the dunces of Africa." She states that this Sunday
Times feature article was reporting on the findings of a comparative study of
literacy and numeracy rates among primary school children from 12 African
countries. The study, which was commissioned by the Education Department for a
continent-wide United Nations education monitoring project, apparently
concluded that South African children were faring poorly in comparison to their
peers in the other eleven African countries.
Anthony Johnson, in his article in Dispatch Online in August of the same
year, examines the conclusions of the United Nations study and observes that
"the study reveals in the technical notes section that the questionnaires given
to learners, educators and principals were only in English." Johnson concludes
by saying: "Little wonder that the South Africans fared particularly poorly on
the United Nation's numeracy questions that involved word sums or stories most
of them didn't know what the words meant!"
We cannot, therefore, wish away the past as it will sooner or later catch up
with us. Without belabouring the point about the legacy of apartheid, suffice
it to say that many of the challenges we face today in education and early
childhood development are a direct result of the apartheid education system
which was intended to make blacks "drawers of water and hewers of wood." I
guess there are about two or three generations of the majority black population
that missed out on good quality education at the foundation phase. It is,
therefore, important to take into consideration the social, political and
cultural factors when determining any strategic intervention, such as toy
libraries, to help children develop to their full potential.
The task of our democratic government has been made more complex by a
fractured and dislocated public library system which it inherited. In the past,
public libraries existed to provide information and for leisure reading for a
privileged few, predominantly white urban middle class. Today, in an effort to
redress this disparity, our government has identified community libraries as
key agents of development to improve the quality of life of all citizens. Our
Department of Arts and Culture, as you may be aware, is responsible for
administering national legislation relating to national libraries. It is also
responsible for the formulation and co-ordination of policy for community
libraries in partnership with provincial departments.
Government recognises the need for all South Africans to have improved access
to library and information services, and these should be expanded to all our
communities. It is in this context that initiatives such as toy libraries
remain critical in creating opportunities for children to learn and grow in
safe environments. Toy libraries play a crucial role in support of education,
lifelong learning and early childhood development.
Library services for children have never been as important for children and
their families as they are today and toy libraries, in particular, are crucial
in promoting early numeracy, literacy and reading habits amongst young people.
A quality children's library equips children with learning and literacy skills,
enabling them to participate and contribute positively to their own
communities. This will help to stimulate critical thinking and a healthy spirit
of ubuntu which are necessary to sustain our democratic values.
Toy libraries have a special responsibility to support the process of
learning to read and to promote books and other media for children, especially
in their mother tongue. Toy libraries must strive to build library collections
that reflect the diverse cultural and multilingual heritage of our country. In
order to achieve this, toy libraries must position themselves as agents of
change.
They must, therefore, deepen their knowledge and understanding of the
diverse needs of all our children, particularly those from disadvantaged
backgrounds. Much more still needs to be done, especially in rural areas in
terms of nurturing creativity, preserving culture, providing access to
information and safeguarding intellectual freedom. Another challenge that toy
libraries face is to provide appropriate and stimulating play materials
necessary to achieve essential outcomes.
Toy libraries can play a vital role in introducing and providing access to
appropriate and user-friendly play technology. Toy libraries should also
undertake vigorous awareness programmes to educate parents about the value of
the services they provide and the long-term benefits of play. The cornerstone
of the toy library movement is play. Play has long been acknowledged as a
crucial factor in children's development, linked to cognitive and social
development. It is related to the development of creativity, healthy brain
development, self-confidence and physical fitness.
However, many children in our country have never had an opportunity to play
and grow up as children. They have never enjoyed childhood; instead, they have
taken on the responsibilities of adults and in some instances, they have been
neglected or abused physically and emotionally. They are often left vulnerable,
becoming early victims to crime and drugs. Toy libraries can serve as an
antidote to many of these social problems and play can help in the healing
process. Play is a crucial tool for those who teach, work with and care for
young children.
Parental involvement should also be encouraged, even those parents regarded
as less educated or illiterate should be encouraged to be involved. When
parents and children play together it strengthens the bond between them and
consequently, the family unit. As George Bernard Shaw said, "we don't stop
playing because we grow old and we grow old because we stop playing."
I am happy to learn that traditional games and toys have also been
introduced in toy libraries. This approach links children with their tradition
and culture and helps them to discover their own identity, who they are and
where they come from. Through traditional toys and games children are able to
know and identify with their forebears and uphold the positive values of their
society. The promotion of toy libraries has yet another important spin-off.
A lot of toys can be manufactured in the craft sector and this could help
create jobs in a range of industries. This, in turn, offers opportunities for
innovation, creativity and skills development. However, the current landscape
of toy libraries in the country is a matter of concern. How many toy libraries
do we have in the country? Who do they serve? What is the current state of
their collections?
In South Africa, I believe, toy libraries are not widespread and tend to be
highly structured either therapeutic or remedial in nature or linked to Early
Childhood Development Centres. It is, therefore, important to ask these
questions to determine the extent of the need in view of the huge investment
the Department of Arts and Culture is about to make in the public library
system.
The development and maintenance of our nation's libraries is one of our
priorities as the services offered by public libraries form part of the bigger
goals of government programmes such as the Accelerated and Shared Growth
Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA), and the Joint Initiative for Priority
Skills Acquisition (Jipsa).
It will be an ongoing challenge for library practitioners in South Africa to
ensure that the sector is transformed. They must ensure that all children have
easy and free access to reading materials in the language of their choice and
relevant to their information needs and interests, in compliance with the
guiding principles of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO) Manifesto which South African public libraries subscribe
to.
I wish you a very successful conference and fruitful deliberations as you go
about the task ahead of you in these four days. As the Ministry and the
Department of Arts and Culture we are looking forward to a closer working
relationship with Active Learning LibrariesâSouth Africa. GK Chesterton, a
writer and a poet, says: "The true object of all human life is play." So, I'm
inviting you to come and play.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Arts and Culture
15 October 2007
Source: Department of Arts and Culture (http://www.dac.gov.za)
