The City's Library and Information Services Department will take their youngest patrons on a five-week summer reading road trip this school holiday without confining them to a vehicle.

'The Summer Reading Road Trip is specifically designed to keep children under 12 occupied for the holidays and will include exciting age-appropriate activities such as puzzles, word games and reading. Each child who registers at the library will receive a passport that they must complete within the five-week period,’ said the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security; and Social Services, Alderman JP Smith.

The passports are available at all City libraries and children who hand in their passports on or before 10 January 2019 will receive a certificate of completion and a gift.

The passports are designed in such a way that participants can continue the programme at home during the holiday period, although it is recommended that the book travellers check in weekly at their favourite library for more books and activities.
'Children love school holidays, but the holiday period also means that the regular reading that forms part of their school day comes to an end as they may think there are far more interesting things to do than open a book. But, like so many other activities, if you want to get better at it, you have to practice, so I want to encourage our children to keep reading during the vacation to enhance their enjoyment of books,' said Alderman Smith.
'We hope that children, and their parents, will see the lifelong benefit of reading for fun. The City's libraries and librarians have started their engines for this trip and are excited to hit the road and provide enjoyable and educational safe spaces,' said Alderman Smith.