Biblionef South Africa

For the first time since Biblionef South Africa was founded in 1998, we are moving to a new home.

Over the past 27 years, thousands of books have left our offices on their way to children, schools, ECD centres, libraries and organisations across South Africa. We have packed books for classrooms, welcomed visitors, planned projects, and worked alongside partners who share our belief that every child deserves access to quality storybooks.

Now, it is time for a new chapter ✨

From 1 September 2026, you will find us in our new premises. As we prepare for the move, we will temporarily pause the processing of book orders, book purchases and courier deliveries from 17 August to 7 September 2026.

We know this may cause some delays, and we are grateful for your patience and understanding while our team packs, moves and settles into our new space.

Thank you to every donor, partner and supporter who has walked this journey with us. Your support has helped us reach this moment, and we look forward to continuing our work from our new home.

We will share our new address and a few photos once we are settled. We cannot wait to welcome you there! 💙

A heartfelt thank you to our board member, Sally, and her incredible team of friends and family for choosing to support Biblionef South Africa this Mandela Day.

Every year, Sally brings people together to make a difference, and every year their generosity grows. This year they raised an incredible R8,340 in support of our mission to ensure more children have access to quality storybooks in their home languages.

These funds will go towards our GivenGain campaign and fundraising efforts to reprint Three Friends and a Taxi, helping us bring another much-loved children's story into the hands of young readers.

We are still finalising just how many books this generous donation will make possible, but we can promise one thing... something exciting is on the way.

📚 Stay tuned as we share how your kindness will help create many more moments of reading, learning and imagination. Thank you, Sally and team, for showing that when a community comes together, every contribution helps write a brighter future ✨

This Mandela Day, we celebrate the power of small acts of kindness to create lasting change.

Every book shared, every story read aloud, every library opened, and every teacher supported helps build a future where more children discover the joy of reading.

At Biblionef, we are reminded every day that literacy changes lives. It builds confidence, sparks imagination, and opens doors to learning. To everyone who has partnered with us, volunteered, donated, or championed children’s literacy, thank you for helping us create opportunities for young readers across South Africa.

Happy Mandela Day! 💙📚

Just a few weeks ago, we shared the transformation of the library at Phakama Primary School in Mpumalanga. Today, we are delighted to share that the final stage of the project is complete.

Our facilitators have spent the past week bringing the library to life. The shelves are now filled with a carefully selected collection of fiction, non-fiction, and reference books in isiZulu and English, giving learners access to resources that support both reading for enjoyment and their schoolwork.

The team also catalogued the entire collection and worked alongside teachers and librarians, providing practical training on covering and cataloguing books, managing the collection, and using the Libwin library management system. These skills will help ensure the library remains organised, accessible, and well-maintained for years to come.

A library is a space that grows through the people who use it and those who care for it. By investing in both the library and the people responsible for it, we hope this space will continue to inspire a love of reading while supporting teaching and learning for many years to come.

Our sincere thanks once again to Komatsu South Africa for making this project possible, and to everyone who contributed their time and expertise to bring it to completion.

We cannot wait to see this library filled with children discovering the joy of reading ✨📚

Today we honour the young people who stood up for their right to education in 1976.

Their courage reminds us that access to learning can never be taken for granted. Every child deserves the opportunity to read, learn in their home language, and discover the joy of books.

This Youth Day, Biblionef continues its work of putting quality children’s books into the hands of young readers across the country, helping to grow a love of reading in every language.

We are excited to share the transformation of the library at Phakama Primary School in Mpumalanga!

Over the past few months, the renovation team has worked hard to repair the roof, plaster and paint the walls, fit lighting, reinforce windows for safety, and lay new floor tiles.

The difference is remarkable.

What was once a damaged and neglected space is now a bright, welcoming library, soon to be filled with books and ready to inspire young readers. The school principal has shared her excitement as the project has come together.

The renovation work is now complete, and over the coming weeks we will be filling the shelves with beautiful books in isiZulu and English, transforming this room into the vibrant library it was always meant to be.

Thank you to our fieldworker for monitoring the project on the ground and helping ensure everything ran smoothly. And thank you to Komatsu South Africa for making this transformation possible. This partnership highlights what becomes possible when
corporates and NGOs work together to transform under-resourced spaces into places where children can learn, read, and thrive.

We look forward to sharing the finished library with you soon!

We recently received feedback from Education Africa on the Hanging Libraries placed in 10 ECD centres in Orange Farm and Soweto, and the updates were a wonderful reminder of why this work matters. ✨

Seeing books become part of a child’s everyday environment can have a meaningful impact, and the feedback from teachers shows just how valuable these resources have been in their classrooms. Seven of the ten teachers are now using the books every day, while the remaining three are using them several times a week. Every centre has its Hanging Library on display and in active use.

What stood out most was hearing about the changes teachers are seeing in the children themselves. One teacher shared:
“Even the quieter children are now more involved; they want to listen and be part of the story.”

Teachers are noticing growing interest in books, stronger language development, improved concentration, and more children choosing books independently and engaging with reading on their own.

For many of these preschools, access to books is limited. A Hanging Library may seem like a simple resource, but for many children it creates opportunities to explore stories, make choices for themselves, and build a relationship with books from an early age.

Thank you to Education Africa for sharing these encouraging reflections, and to HCI Foundation for making this work possible through their support. 📚

Recently, Biblionef South Africa celebrated the graduation of Darcell Kopman and Nokuthula Mbenyane from the DGMT Innovation Fellowship, and it felt like an important moment to mark.

What began as a focus on programme growth became something we didn’t fully anticipate: a genuine organisational reckoning with how we work together. How we communicate, where trust lives, and how staff at every level experience the work day-to-day.

Over the past year, Darcell and Thula stewarded a process of honest conversation and collective reflection, the kind that organisations often defer but rarely regret when they finally have. Some of it was affirming. Some of it challenged us. But all of it was worthwhile.

We are grateful to the DGMT Innovation Fellowship for creating this opportunity, and to coaches Claudia Clayton and Carol-Ann Foulis for their steady guidance throughout. Most importantly, we thank every staff member who engaged with openness and courage.

To Darcell and Thula, thank you for holding this process with such care and integrity. The work you started will continue to shape how we move forward as an organisation.

As graduates, they now join the DGMT Innovation Fellowship Alumni Network of over 100 past fellows, a community that extends the learning well beyond any single programme or organisation. We look forward to seeing what that connection makes possible.

Today is World Book Day.

For many children in South Africa, it’s also just another day without a book in their language.

We have commissioned the publishing of “Ausi Told Me: The Secrets of Nature” in six South African languages: English, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi, Afrikaans. And for the first time, a children’s book in Khoekhoegowab.

Same story. Six languages. More children who get to see themselves in it.

This is what we mean by access.