media releases - Unisa to celebrate World Book and Copyright Day

Unisa Library and Unisa Press to jointly celebrate World Book and Copyright Day

The Unisa Library, in collaboration with Unisa Press, will celebrate World Book and Copyright Day on Monday, 23 April 2012. The event will take place at 12:00 in the Miriam Makeba Concert Hall on the Unisa Muckleneuk Campus, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. Professor Mamokgethi Setati, Vice Principal: Research and Innovation will officially open the event.

It will also feature two of South Africa’s most celebrated authors and artists, Miriam Tlali and Pitika Ntuli, who will read from their work and be available for questions on their art, writing, the future of writers and writing, among other issues. There will also be a book giveaway.

The theme for 2012 is: “Read, Embrace Tomorrow” and has been endorsed by the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) with the aim of nurturing a reading nation.

The purpose of the World Book and Copyright Day is to inculcate a culture of reading and to highlight important copyright issues. The Unisa Library and Unisa Press regard books and reading as central to student throughput and research rates, and also to nation building efforts. Libraries are important for events such as World Book and Copyright Day as they increase awareness of the wide range of reading and learning resources available to all.

The Unisa Library houses over 2, 7 million books and is the largest academic library on the African continent.

Attending the World Book and Copyright Day celebration will be of interest to academic staff and students, community leaders, lovers of art books and writers.

Members of the media are also invited to the event.

 Enquiries: Ms Natalia Molebatsi (012) 429-6977/0842882338/ molebn@unisa.ac.za or visit www.unisa.ac.za/library.