AS WELL as sending filled pencil cases to African schoolchildren, Launceston Rotary Club also supports their school libraries, which are often almost non-existent.

To own a book is a distant dream as they are very expensive, so borrowing a book from the school library is the only way of practising reading skills and improving literacy.

The Rotary Club has recently been a major donor in the refurbishment of the library at Prudens School, Soweto, and since January has sent 39 boxes of fiction and reference books to the charity School Aid for onward distribution to needy schools. These have been donated by some local schools and organisations, and also excess stock from the Rotary Community Shop, where further donations can be made.