Nthatuoa Koeshe
THE Institute of Development Management (IDM) on Friday donated books to Life High School in celebration of the World Book and Copyright Day.
The books that are for both leisure and educational purposes, will be kept in the school library for students to access whenever they need to.
The donation was made in collaboration with the Lesotho Library Association.
A UNESCO representative, Tieho Rankhone, narrated the history of the day and explained its importance.
He said World Book and Copyright Day is a celebration to promote the enjoyment of books and reading.
“On 23 April annually, celebrations take place all over the world to recognise the scope of books; a link between the past and the future, a bridge between generations and across cultures,” Rankhone said.
Rankhone said on this occasion, UNESCO and the international organisations representing the three major sectors of the book industry publishers, booksellers and libraries, select the world book capital for a year to maintain, through its own initiatives, the impetus of the day’s celebrations.
IDM’s Assistant Librarian, Keketso Kutumela, said the donation was their way of participating in the y decided to take part in the World Book and Copyright Day.
She said they chose the school because apart from being one of the closely situated schools, they were aware that it is usually sidelined.
Kutumela said the initiative was also part of IDM’s corporate social responsibility.
“The books cover all subjects available at Life High School while there are also some novels because books are not only for school purposes sometimes people read for fun,” Kutumela said.
She said some of the books were donated by the National Library.
LLA’s Makori Sefeane said they took part in the initiative to help instill a reading culture in students as it is slowly dying in African societies.
“Most people only read when they have to do researches and homework however, reading is important, even for leisure so that people widen their knowledge,” Kutumela said.
One of the Life High School teachers, Manthatisi Makhaola, expressed gratitude to IDM for “the special gift”.
She said books promoted sharing of information, knowledge as well as empowering imagination. Aid it is imperative for schools, as the custodians of education, to be the constituencies to be targeted to galvanise a culture of reading at an early age and the importance of sharing stories.