Malawi commemorates World Book and Copyright Day

Schools in Chimutu Zone in the capital, Lilongwe on Tuesday joined the rest of the world in commemorating World Book and Copyright Day to enhance the reading culture in the country.

National librarian Grey Nyali said the day is observed to honour writers in the world.

“We commemorate the day each year on April 23 to honour writers in the world. But today, we are observing the day in a different way because we want to encourage children to read books,” he said.

Nyali further said they have 500 school libraries in the country so that children can access books in their various schools.

Nyali said as one way of achieving this, National Library Services (NLS), in collaboration with district councils, has established 20 libraries and they are yet to establish a few more to allow more people in the country to have access to books.

“Writers’ workshops are organised to make sure that more books are published,” Nyali said.

“This comes when the country wants to achieve MDG (Millennium Development Goals) 2 which is Access to Education,” said Kaludzu.

NLS has 14 national libraries, five in the South, five in the Centre and four in the North.