Project Purpose (Vision of the Project)
Develops and supports literacy and languages skills by producing easy to read books in all SA languages.
Promotes reading by running workshops on writing and editing stories for new readesr to increase the number of accessible books in all SA languages
Runs workshops for teachers and librarians on how to promote a love of reading and how to use books in the classroom
Who is the Target Community
Adults with limited literacy skills, African language readers, Second language learners,Teachers, Librarians Community development workers
What is the scale of the project? (How many people does it benefit / Or how many communities does it involve / any other measure of scale)
107 titles currently in print (6 of which are teachers’ resource books)
Have distributed some 300000 books, most of which are read by multiple readers in libraries and classes
Books are also used in foreign countries to teach ESL and Zulu second language
500 people have attended free “Promoting Reading” workshops in many different provinces and 95 people have attended free”Writing and Editing” workshops. Some of the stories written in the workshops have been published.
The life span of the project: When did it start? Does it have an end date in view?
Started in 1991 and is ongoing
Evaluated impact or influence, or predicted potential impact
Externally evaluated in 2002 – report available on request.The impact of NRP books in the NGO ABET and reading promoting sections “is indisputable” (p9)
Manuscripts are tested in the classroom with learners prior to publication
Every workshop is evaluated by the participants. Collated evaluation reports available on request.
What cooperation is there with other organisations in this outreach?
Booksellers, book distributors, government book procurement sections and ELITS (school libraries provisioning), NGOs, provincial and municipal libraries, independent schools, individuals learning second languages
How is the research potential of the outreach being exploited?
Papers based on this work have been given at local and international conferences. Workshops based on this work and using the books are offered at local and international conferences
How many Students are involved in the Project
Occasional translators and language advisors, database updaters and telephone marketers
Spinoffs?
UKZN receives kudos because the books are in schools, provincial and municipal libraries, ABET centres, NGOs etc all over the country as well as overseas universities. UKZN also gets exposure through the free workshops – a total of almost 600 teachers, librarians, community development workers etc. have attended New Readers Publishers workshops.
Any other info you would like to include
New Readers Publishers is currently the only ono-profit publisher in the country producing books for newly literate adults in English and significantly, in African languages. Easy to read books in all South African languages fulfill a vital function in the promotion of mother tongue literacy and in the long term development of a reading culture.