Biblionef is a SARS-approved Section 18A Public Benefit Organisation. Established in 1998 by a former Dutch Ambassador, Biblionef forms part of an international network of independent organisations with offices in the Netherlands, France, Ghana and Tunisia.
Operating according to UNESCO’s Book Donation Charter, Biblionef donates new storybooks in all eleven languages to schools and children’s organisations throughout South Africa. These books support endeavours to improve literacy levels, establish a reading culture, and help create the right circumstances to foster a love of reading.
Vision: To create lifelong readers who are good citizens who can read and think for themselves, resulting in a society where everyone is literate, has access to education and finds reading both a great pleasure and a necessity.
Mission: To make books available for children (ages 3 to 18) in all official languages for reading pleasure and for education and in this way to lay the foundation for children to make good decisions through critical thinking and live balanced and productive lives.
We acquire our books by:
- Purchasing titles from publishers and booksellers at a discounted price
- Receiving book donations from publishers and booksellers
- Commissioning the publishing and reprinting of appropriate titles
Biblionef’s target group comprises all children and young people in South Africa, aged 3 to 18, living in underserved communities with no access to books. The children attend children’s organisations that have an educational focus. These organisations include primary and high schools, preschools, ECDs (Early Childhood Development Centres), aftercare centres, children’s homes for orphaned and abused children, Drop-in-Centres for OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children), street children’s centres, refugee camps; hospitals and reading clubs.
