The City of Johannesburg and the Library and Information Association of South Africa’s Gauteng South Branch will launch the South African Library Week celebrations at Noordgesig Library on 22 March 2023 from 10am. The library and information sector is celebrating South African Library Week with the theme “Libraries: telling powerful stories” from 20 to 31 March 2023.
MMC for Community Development in the City of Johannesburg Cllr Lubabalo Magwentshu says: “Libraries in South Africa have a long history, even though library services for black communities were not adequately resourced, after 1994, various legislation provided for more resourcing through various grants.”
“We will not only celebrating public /community libraries, but all libraries, whether in academic institutions, government departments, various organisations, special libraries, school libraries,” says MMC Magwentshu.
Various libraries across the City will host special Library Week activities. The main event takes place at the Noordgesig Library.
“Despite the challenges that libraries are facing, they have persevered and continue to add to the good stories that they tell.
The event will showcase examples of stories that tell the value libraries add to the community,” says Nobuntu Mpendulo, the Director for Library and Information Services in the City of Johannesburg.
Between 24 and 31 March 2023, the City’s pop-up libraries will be seen across the regions when librarians take a collection of resources outside the physical library space to the public.
The public is invited to visit the pop-up libraries and find out about the special services that libraries offer in the demanding modern world where information has become a valuable commodity and to endorse the message of the importance of reading and learning.
The City’s libraries use Library Week every year as a fine-free period when community members can return long overdue books without having to pay a fine. The period runs from 20 to 31 March 2023.
The objectives of the amnesty period are to encourage the community to return overdue books, reinstate defaulted membership, and to create awareness of the importance of libraries and of a reading community.
16/03/2023