For the love of books: the Sandton Library is your door to new worlds.

For many people, there is a world awaiting within the written word. Cold day outside? Cuddle in bed, be lost in a bestseller. The book? A portal to a spectacular place where anything could happen. Is it pirates fighting on the high seas, cannons belching smoky fire portside into their enemies?

Is it two lovers, one human, the other a Twilight vampire who resists all temptation to consume that which he loves?

Or a bespectacled boy with a lightning scar on his forehead, with two plucky friends, battling dark forces in their wizardly adventures?

Some prefer the real-life adventures of real-life adventurers, such as journeys through the harsh cold deep into the South Pole, home to harsh elements. True tales of how we built a space programme that launched us from Earth to the distant moon. Or diving deep within the oceans, to discover the mysteries of lost treasures, such as aboard the RMS Titanic.

Educational stories, that bring to life, well, Earth’s splendid life – even that which no longer lives, such as tyrannosaurus rex and woolly mammoths. The mysteries of the universe, such as how time itself began, as written by one of our greatest geniuses, a wheel-bound man.

Do any of these ring a bell to you? Books that break the limitations of our imaginations? Kudos, because it means you at least have an interest to read. And reading is what is celebrated on 9 August, International Book Lovers Day.

And if not, that’s okay too. It’s never too late to put down the remote or the video game controller, and stroll into your nearest library, for some alternate entertainment. Entertainment which enriches the brain, and springs new connections. New ways of looking at the world.

It was, after all, in the 1600s when the world’s first printing press started publishing books on mass that the vast majority of people finally had the chance to be educated.

Books are empowering. They bring down dynasties. If you need proof, grab a Ouija Board, and phone Russia’s last Tsar.

Which is why we suggest you visit the Sandton Library; it’s a sprawling building many floors filled. Books for all readers, from all age groups. There’s gems within its many shelves, just waiting for you to uncover them. And plenty of space to page through them, reading a couple of pages to be sure you want to take them home with you.

The Library, opposite the statue of Madiba in Nelson Mandela Square, is this city’s treasure trove of learning. So for the month of August, why not do your brain, and your imagination, a favour, and visit?

Come for the books, stay for the new worlds.