power of reading
Deputy Chief of Mission Helen La Lime and City Librarian Johannes Magoro cut the ribbon, officially opening the reading room
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Deputy Chief of the Mission Helen La Lime searches the Web with Bodibeng schoolchildren
A Window into the USA Opens in Soshanguve
October 29, 2008
Reading Room will provide a deeper understanding of U.S. history, society and culture
Deputy Chief of Mission Helen La Lime spoke passionately about the transformative power of reading at the official opening of the U.S. Reading Room at Bodibeng Community Library in Soshanguve, a township in northwest Pretoria, on October 29.
Eighty schoolchildren and six teachers from nearby schools couldn’t wait to use the Internet computers and browse the books and magazines after Ms. La Lime and City of Tshwane Library Director Johannes Magoro cut the ribbon.
The Reading Room provides a window into U.S. history, society and culture. Contemporary and classic fiction will share shelf space with books on HIV/AIDS, entrepreneurship, African-American history, and other subjects. In partnership with the Bodibeng library, the Information Resource Center, will organize information literacy classes, film shows, speaker events and other programs. Pupils from 27 primary and secondary schools, as well as hundreds of University of South Africa students regularly visit the Bodibeng library.
The Reading Room will reach out even further, as about 300 books will rotate onto one of Tshwane’s mobile libraries. This is the second Reading Room established by the Embassy's Public Affairs Section in Pretoria. On September 12, a Health Information Kiosk funded by the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief was opened in Mamelodi, a township northeast of the city.