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06 August 2025 | Story Lilitha Dingwayo | Photo Supplied
Mobi Readathon
Attending the MobiReadathon (left to right): Rasesemola Elias, Principal Librarian, Fezile Dabi District; Mzwandile Radebe, Principal Librarian, Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality; Jeannet Molopyane, Director, UFS Library and Information Services; Nomabhaso Ramugondo, Director, Free State Provincial Library Services; Elmari Kruger, Deputy Director, Motheo District Municipality; Larshan Naicker, Deputy Director, UFS Library and Information Services; Adele Bezuidenhout, Deputy Director, Fezile Dabi District Municipality; Henna Adendorff, Assistant Manager, Free State Provincial Library Services; and Thandi Gxabu, Librarian, Free State Provincial Library Services.

The University of the Free State (UFS) Department of Library and Information Services recently hosted the 2025 MobiReadathon competition, a digital reading initiative established by the City of Johannesburg Library Services. Now a national programme involving all nine provinces, the competition was introduced to Grade 8 high school learners in the Free State for the first time, with UFS playing a central role in supporting digital literacy and community empowerment.

Held at the UFS Sasol Library on 25 July 2025, the Free State leg of the 2025 MobiReadathon brought together 50 Grade 8 learners from across the province. The room buzzed with excitement as the young readers engaged in digital reading tasks and trivia challenges via mobile devices.

“I never liked reading, and because I am not fluent in English I thought I should start reading, and this initiative has been helpful for me,” said Bohlokwa Dikoetsing, a learner at Bodibeng Secondary School.

Tshepo Kgaola, also a participant, said the most exciting part of the competition was when his team won a voucher for reading after they created a story using artificial intelligence (AI).

“This initiative is part of our digital transformation agenda for public libraries,” said Nomabhaso (Rasby) Ramugondo, Director of the Free State Provincial Library Services. Ramugondo emphasised the issue of reading with understanding in South Africa, a priority that she hopes to see eradicated through programmes like the MobiReadathon. “We had asked Jeff Nyoka from the City of Johannesburg Library Services to come and do a presentation about digital literacy,” she explained. “It was then that a team of digital transformers was established to come up with initiatives like the Reja Buka Reading Festival that will help learners – and that is how the collaboration on the MobiReadathon came about in Free State.” 

“The essence of this collaboration is to promote reading development,” said Tebogo Msimango, Senior Librarian for E-learning Programmes at the City of Johannesburg. Just like Ramugondo, Msimango explains the need to promote digital reading due to the issue of learners not being able to read for meaning.

“The outcome I would like for this initiative is for learners to discover themselves and come to an understanding that with reading, one could go far,” Msimango said. “These collaborations also help with making the learners realise that they could also come into the university space, and a good example is the tour that they were taken on around the library.”

UFS Library Services played a pivotal role in facilitating the event, offering logistical support. As part of its community engagement initiatives, the university continues to collaborate on programmes that uplift local youth and promote literacy through innovation.

News Archive

First Kovsie. First Free Stater. First Female. Prof Driekie Hay makes history.
2014-06-10

 
Prof Driekie Hay, Vice-Rector: Open and Lifelong Innovative Higher Education, was elected to the Board of the Afrikaanse Taal- en Kultuurvereniging (ATKV). It is the first time in the history of the ATKV that someone from our university – as well as from the Free State – has been elected to the Board.

To date, only a few women have been nominated.

“I see this election as recognition of the UFS’s vision to act as a national role player and make a difference through its Human Project and its pursuit of social justice and reconciliation,” says Prof Hay.

She was appointed in the cultural expert portfolio during the ATKV’s Annual General Meeting from 28 to 29 May 2014. In this position Prof Hay has to promote the Afrikaans language and culture on a national level – through an inclusive approach. Prof Hay’s goal is to build bridges between the different language and cultural groups. She would like to establish greater understanding between the various groups in our country. She feels it is important to give shape to “a new generation of South Africans that are no longer threatened by ‘otherness’, but will cherish the treasure of diversity.”

This appointment isn’t only a great honour, but also endorses Prof Hay’s expertise. “On a personal and professional level, this appointment means that they have confidence in my expertise, outlook on life and experience” she says.

Prof Hay will serve on the Board of the ATKV for a three-year term.

The ATKV is a cultural organisation with four main focus areas:

  • language,
  • the arts,
  • communities and
  • education.

 


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