Hotspot libraries are a safe haven for children

When community leader Terence Crowster was about 10 or 11 years old, he attended a youth programme at a clinic in his neighbourhood, Scottsville, in Kraaifontein.

A nurse who ran the programme noticed Crowster and singled him out as a leader. Crowster had always felt that he was different, and this nurse gave him an opportunity to be himself. This was a defining moment in his childhood.

“That was in my heart for all these years,” says Crowster. “Somebody gave me a chance.”

Today, about 40 years later, Crowster sits at a table surrounded by books in Scottsville. The walls of the room are lined with bookshelves and the ceiling is decorated with children’s arts and crafts.

The December heat hangs in the air, but Crowster seems completely unbothered. A number of children play on a mat in the centre of the room. This building is known as a hotspot library, which Crowster founded nearly a decade ago.

“I want to give all these kids a chance to see what they’re capable of, to see what they’ve been called to,” he says.

From container to library

Crowster opened the hotspot library to provide children with a safe space to learn. He says there are no other libraries in the area.

“The community is filled with other things that can take their attention away. There’s substance abuse, there is neglect, there is gangsterism,” says Crowster.

“We offer the alternative to what they are used to, because most of the stuff is like a second skin to them.”

When the library opened in 2016, it was a 3m x 6m shipping container that could only allow five children in at a time. Through donations of books and bookshelves, as well as Crowster’s own money, the library has grown significantly. It now has more than 850 members and about 100 people attend every week.

There are other such libraries in Franschhoek; in Vlottenburg, Stellenbosch; in Morningstar, Durbanville; and in De Novo, Kraaifontein. There are also plans for a library in Delft.

Crowster says the name “hotspot library” is a double entendre. The first meaning comes from the library being positioned in a hotspot for gang violence, situated between the 27s and 28s gangs.

“In front of this library, here on this field, a lot of gang fights happen,” he says.

“We turned this whole space into a beacon of hope, a beacon of light for these kids. Some of them who were pulled into gangs are now here with us.”

Despite the presence of violence, Crowster says the gang members show respect for the library. “The gangs in the community know about us. They know about me. They know about my work. Some of them were once part of a programme here,” says Crowster.

“They respect the work we do. When we have a programme, they don’t fight right here. They fight after we close.”

An educational hotspot

Hotspot library also refers to how the library is similar to a mobile hotspot: where the latter is used to connect a device to internet resources, the library connects children to educational resources. Crowster says the library’s members had a 94% pass rate at school in 2023, increasing to 99% in 2024.

“There are a lot of kids who struggle with foetal alcohol syndrome. That’s a big thing here. Trauma also plays a big role in the understanding and comprehension of words,” he says. “But we manage to work through that with them.”

Crowster says the library is meant to provide children in the area with an equal opportunity to education. He and his team provide reading lessons, extracurricular activities like soccer, dancing and karate, and even counselling to children. However, it is not only children who attend the library.

“We have over 100 adults using the library. Adults are the mirrors to their kids. The kids look at them and they mirror what their parents are doing. So, if parents love reading, kids will love reading.”

Crowster suddenly gets a big smile on his face and looks towards the door to the library. A little girl in a pram calls out to him. He says she’s the granddaughter of Lee Bonze, who has worked at the library for about two years helping to teach children to read.

“You have to have hair on your teeth in a community like this. Hare op jou tanne. Jy moet sterk wees [You must be strong],” says Bonze, who bursts out laughing.

Her jovial presence is infectious, and the room is filled with a lightness and joy.

“I think that both of us are making a huge difference here,” she says.

Help for the future

Crowster says the project is open to donations of any kind, be it financial help, time or resources.

“Stationery is one of the things that we’re always looking at. People coming in and just offering their services as well, just to come alongside us and to offer things, especially when it comes to foodstuffs,” he says.

“We try to feed them every day … because I can’t reach them and tell them listen here, I need you to read, because the only thing that they’re going to think about is ‘my stomach is empty’.”

Scottsville’s hotspot library will be celebrating its 10-year anniversary on 13 February next year. Crowster is hoping to have grown the space even more by then.

“I was reading a book once and it said, ‘If not you, then who? If not now, then when?’ So, I took on the challenge and said: ‘I’m going to do it now’.” DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.