Inspired by National Book Week turning 10 in 2019, the South African Book Development Council along with various organisations who are championing reading promotion in South Africa came together to collectively reconsider the way we approach reading promotion. As a result, a stronger push to promote the importance and value of the book was instituted.

#readbecause is a national campaign, aiming to use available platforms such as social media and physical spaces in the form of libraries and reading clubs to create a movement that reaffirms the value of reading for leisure.

The primary aim of #readbecause is to showcase unity of purpose among the multitude of organisations who work towards promoting a reading culture in South Africa and to encourage more people to perceive the value of reading.

Books contain many words that children are unlikely to encounter in frequently spoken language and with 78% of Grade 4 learners being unable to read for comprehension in any language, #readbecause is a response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call for a reading revolution. Children who know adults who read for pleasure take it for granted that reading is a valuable and worthwhile activity, while being told stories in any language, is known to feed a child’s imagination and contributes to the development of abstract thought.

Collaboration partners include:

FunDza is getting South African teens and young adults reading, writing and learning!

Nal’ibali (isiXhosa for “here’s the story”) is a national reading-for-enjoyment campaign. It seeks to spark and embed a culture of reading across South Africa, so that reading, writing, and sharing stories – in all South African languages – is part of everyday life.

(LIASA) – To connect the library sector to South Africa and promote the development of South Africa through accessing information in various formats.

The custodian of South Africa’s collective national heritage materials and the national depository of published output materials in the country.

PASA is the largest publishing industry body in South Africa, committed to creativity, literacy, the free flow of ideas and encouraging a culture of reading.

PASA is the largest publishing industry body in South Africa, committed to creativity, literacy, the free flow of ideas and encouraging a culture of reading.

Van Schaik Bookstore has a proud heritage as one of the oldest bookstores in Southern Africa.