Monday 7th July was an important date for Children’s Book Network at the Centre for the Book in Queen Victoria Street. It was the launch of a new phase of our work – and all three founders were there. Lesley Beake gave an introduction to CBN and spoke about the importance of books for children, Sindiwe Magona made an impassioned plea for more reading for children and Gcina Mhlophe swept the audience away with magnificent storytelling. All of this was enhanced by thoughtful words from performance poet croc E moses and wonderful violin music (and a story) from Anele Mhlahlo. It was a gala evening.
This function was attended by about 180 friends and supporters and marked the launch of our publicity programme and Facebook page. It also was a watershed in our progress from volunteer organization to something more defined and structured. We are currently in the final phase of applying for NPO status and our Trust will soon be registered (all the voluminous paperwork for that has been completed). CBN marches on.
Our thanks to Centre for the Book for allowing us to use their magnificent venue and to all the volunteers who assisted with the evening. Wine was very (very!) kindly sponsored by wine.co.za in the person of Judy Brower and Kevin Kidson, who attended the function as well. Delicious snacks were provided by forkfulloffleurs (and much appreciated by the audience). Children from Child Radio came to interview the stars and form links with CBN. Representatives of all the book organizations we work with were warmly welcomed. Most importantly, a huge thank you to Rosemary Bangham, our admin manager, who did an impeccable job of arranging the function. Thank you!
You can see the finale from our Youtube account here: http://www.youtube.com/user/childrensbooknet
