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When nine-year-old bookworm Reamoleboha Monethi heard that one of her friends didn't enjoy reading, she knew she had to do something about it.
The Joburg bibliophile has loved stories and reading since she was a baby, say her parents, Ntshepang (37) and Eddy (45).
They started reading to their daughter when she was six months old, and by the time she was six, she'd read her first novel from cover to cover.
Reamoleboha, who is in Grade 3 at Trinityhouse Glenvista, started her reading initiatives after overhearing a conversation between her mom and her friend's mom, who told Ntshepang she wished her daughter would read more.
“I said to my parents, since I really like Diary of a Wimpy Kid I could lend one of my books to my friend, and they agreed,” Reamoleboha says.
That inspired her to start R BookHire, "so more children can have a chance to read, have a bigger vocabulary and have more knowledge".
Reamoleboha, who has a collection of 40 fiction and non-fiction books by local and international authors, says her friend enjoyed Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and “my mom and I realised it wouldn't only be nice to share the book with one friend, but with the rest of my friends and everyone else who wanted to join".
Ntshepang says she didn't like the idea that a book would be read once and be put on a shelf, especially as reading can be an expensive hobby.
She came up with the idea of hiring out the books at low prices to make them more accessible.
“Basically R BookHire is a rotation of books,” she says.
Slower readers can rent a book for two weeks at a fee of R50. Faster readers can rent an unlimited number of books for a monthly fee of R150.
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To hire a book, clients can either send her a WhatsApp message or an email. Ntshepang will then either deliver the books to the child's house or Reamoleboha will hand it to them at school.
As Reamoleboha spread the word about her book hire, the number of readers between the ages of 5 and 14 began to mushroom.
“I feel like we are making a difference, seeing this initiative grow day by day,” Ntshepang says.
Reamoleboha also started a book club that meets during the school holidays.
The first book club meeting was held in March, at a book shop in a mall.
“When the book club started everyone came and explained the books nicely. It made me feel good,” Reamoleboha says.
“Like, instead of just reading alone every school holiday they can meet other children and talk about books they have read."
Certificates were given to the children who read the most books to encourage them to continue reading.
Ntshepang says these projects are empowering her daughter.
"She’s involved in the administration and keeps track of which books are available for renting and which have been rented out.”
The mom and daughter go book shopping every two weeks.
“When she wants to exceed the budget she’ll say, ‘Mummy, this one is talking to my soul’. And she knows it’s going to be hard for me to say no,” Ntshepang says.
Reamoleboha's favourite books are locally written fiction, which she finds more relatable. Her favourite local author is Shudufhadzo Musida, Miss South Africa 2020, who penned the book Shudu Finds Her Magic.
Her favourite international author is Jeff Kinney, the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.
Reamoleboha hopes to become a teacher because she loves helping others expand their horizons.
