Wise words for women at Westridge library

The Westridge library recently held its annual Women's Information Skills Empowerment (Wise) programme to inform women from the area about ways they can improve their livelihoods.

This year, the programme introduced 11 women, most of them unemployed, to concepts such as elevator pitching, digital and information literacy, and fundamental entrepreneurship skills.

For the elevator segment, the women learnt how to introduce themselves to potential employers or business clients.

The digital and information literacy segments covered basic computer literacy and how to find information in the library.

“In order for a woman to empower herself, she needs to know something as simple as creating an email address, which enables her to then make a job application and to seek employment,” said senior librarian Mu-iz Hendricks.

Mitchell’s Plain Entrepreneurs Hub founder Lucretia Jardini spoke about basic business planning, overcoming challenges, building confidence, how to access available resources, and mentoring.

Mr Adams said the days of libraries being quiet corners for reading, where women only come to register their children for library services were gone.

“It is a place of life-long learning because that very same woman that comes in and registers her children, might not be aware this, but if you are pregnant and you walk into a library, you can register your unborn child. We have books on parenting, motherhood and being a woman. We also have accompanying programmes, such as sewing and knitting classes,” he said.