This paper identifies obstacles to physical and intellectual access and effective use of books and media by South African children and suggests some possible solutions. It also includes a description of a study of the attitudes of first-year student teachers at colleges of education and universities in the Transvaal towards school libraries. The paper includes nine graphs depicting the findings. Obstacles to access identified in South Africa are similar to those in other developing countries and include: socio-economic problems, illiteracy, lack of reading tradition, insufficient library facilities or information technology for the majority of the population, few books published locally by black writers in indigenous languages, and few qualified media teachers. Resources found in South Africa include many well-stocked media centers, some centralized and regional media collections, training courses for media teachers, and programs to encourage reading undertaken by READ Educational Trust (an independent organization) in many of the disadvantaged schools. Ways to make books and media accessible to all children include the redistribution or sharing of resources, community libraries, and cooperation in the development of a national policy for school libraries. Once problems of access are solved, effective use can follow. An example of black traditional literature is appended. (Contains 41 references.) (KRN)