STORY: People in Johannesburg embrace literature as World Book and Copyright Day nears
SHOOTING TIME: April 20, 2024
DATELINE: April 22, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:04
LOCATION: JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
CATEGORY: EDUCATION

SHOTLIST:
1. various of a bookstore in Johannesburg
2. SOUNDBITE (English): JUSTIN BOOKZ, Bookstore owner in Rivonia
3. SOUNDBITE (English): COREEN COHEN, Customer
4. various of a bookstore in Johannesburg

STORYLINE:

World Book and Copyright Day, observed globally on April 23 each year, highlights the joy of reading and promotes the importance of books.

Located in Rivonia, a bustling suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, this vibrant reading cafe is a haven for book lovers. It provides a venue for engaging discussions, book swaps, and enriching reading moments.

SOUNDBITE (English): JUSTIN BOOKZ, Bookstore owner in Rivonia
"Reading for me is still the most important way of gathering information. There is so much information that's still stored in books that you can't translate to podcast, you can't translate to a blog. So for me, reading is very, very important. And one of the things that does make me happy is that I've got a lot of customers who are young readers. 
Reading and books are still a very, very important part of the cultural life of everybody right across the planet. It doesn't matter whether you're an English speaker, a Mandarin speaker, a French speaker, anything like that, books still retain the information there and they still retain their charm and there is nothing better than picking up a book."

SOUNDBITE (English): COREEN COHEN, Customer
"The thing about having a book, you pick it up, it's something real, you feel the paper, you read the writing and you are absorbed into that book. But on television, you're looking over there. There's nothing personal if you're watching a television story. But with a book -- it becomes part of you and part of your life while you read it."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa.
(XHTV)