The Book Lounge is an independent bookshop in the Eastern Precinct of Cape Town City Centre. We opened in December 2007 and have had the most wonderful response. Talk to our experienced and passionate staff about the book you are looking for or feel free to grill us on what we’ve been reading recently. We pride ourselves on the many interesting book related events that we host – check out our events page for details of what’s coming up. Or just come and enjoy a delicious cup of coffee while relaxing in the Lounge area and perusing our eclectic selection of books. Bring your children to the best kids section in town and if you know of a 3 to 8 year old who likes a good story, every Saturday morning at 11.00 is story time at the Book Lounge. We have a wide and unusual range of books, and if you’re looking for something we don’t have in the shop, we will do our utmost to get it for you. Enjoy the site and please drop us a mail if you have questions, queries about books or comments to share.
The Open Box Library Project 2017
Open Book Festival has been committed to driving a love of books and reading amongst learners since its inception. Fundamental to this has been the Open Book School Library Project which has seen us put libraries into Matthew Goniwe Memorial High School, Parkhurst Primary and Westridge High School. The experience is one that has been hugely rewarding but which has also come with its own challenges.
As with all aspects of Open Book, we are constantly looking for ways to do things better and it is with this in mind that we reworked the library project to come up with something that doesn’t overwhelm, doesn’t require additional staff and which can be kept up to date with relatively little money. Welcome to Open Box! These mini libraries are placed in classrooms, allowing teachers and learners access to the resource through the day.
St Mary’s Primary School
Located in the Cape Town CBD, St Mary’s Primary was ideally suited to be our pilot for the Open Box Project. Teachers showed huge interest in having access to books through the day in their classrooms, the school is within walking distance of the Book Lounge (which is closely associated with Open Book Festival) and learners at the school come predominantly from disenfranchised communities.
Budget per Box:
| Materials and building costs | R5 000 |
| Books (roughly R100/book) | R20 000 |
| CDs | R2 000 |
| Activity materials | R1 000 |
| Posters | R1 000 |
| Games | R1 000 |
| Misc | R2 000 |
| Total | R32 000 |
WHERE WE ARE NOW
We are currently looking for funding to furnish St Mary’s with the remaining boxes, and are also looking forward to 2018. We are in the process of identifying the school we will start working with in 2018 and hope to raise funds for a minimum of 3 boxes for handover over the course of next year.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
1. Purchase a book from our suggestions which will be directly added to the library.
2. We are also looking for larger funding relationships going forward.
3. Ask a staff member at The Book Lounge for more information.
For more details please mail us on booklounge@gmail.com.
