‘Libraries draw you into a world of characters and eras beyond the ordinary’

AS the creator of the show Mark My Words, I have the amazing pleasure as an author to visit libraries wherever I go.

Not too many people think about it, but words form part of our lives every single day, wherever and whenever. Whether we speak, hear or read it somewhere – it’s there.

I have had the privilege to write some books and the startling fact is that my life story will be caught up in the pages of a book in a library for far longer than I will be around. this is the case for so many authors as well. their stories have been immortalised for generations to come and for anyone to read, at any point in time. Imagine if libraries had voices; imagine the sound of the millions and millions of stories spoken out loud. We literally would be transported to worlds unheard of. Besides the fact that libraries have the most calming and tranquilising effects on a person’s state of mind and emotions, it also has the ability to speak an unspoken language that draws you into a world of characters and eras beyond the ordinary life.

I have even had the privilege of filming my master of words competition in libraries. We intentionally chose to do so in order for us to rekindle the love of books and writing, and the general love and passion for libraries. having contestants enter a library to audition for the show, gives us an opportunity to remind them of the enormous value of the millions of stories captured in books. they are reminded that they are in the presence of words, pictures and stories of people who poured out their heart on to pages which eventually became books. As for myself, there is nearly nothing that could replace that feeling I had when the cameras first went on to film in the Africana Library in Kimberley.

My dream had finally taken shape. the life I had lived and wrote about had finally become something I could now capture on film and in a library. how does one explain creating something like Mark My Words and have it come to life in a place filled with billions of words? therefore, whether we prefer staying in the current era or journey into the ancient worlds of Egypt, Africa or the Ming Dynasty of China – a library will provide us the access to these worlds, its people and their stories. With the turn of every page, we are likely to be introduced to places we have never been to and people we have never met – all in a library

– Mark from Mark My Words