City library prepares to reopen

THE mayor and his team got a sneak preview of the Joburg City Library, which has been closed since 2009 while undergoing extensive renovations and modernisation that have given the old building a modern twist.

Renovations to the library are almos complete (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)Renovations to the library are almost complete (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)It now echoes the eighth clause of the Freedom Charter, which states: “The doors of learning and culture shall be opened. All the cultural treasures of mankind shall be open to all, by free exchange of books, ideas and contact with other lands.”

The library is the heart of the city, located on the corner of Market and Fraser streets, between President and Sauer streets. It been transformed with technological upgrades to become a learning centre of excellence and a 21st century model city library.

The 77-year-old library is expected to reopen on 14 February 2012. The walking tour took place on 14 November, with Executive Mayor Parks Tau; members of his mayoral committee; City staff; members of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, which helped fund the upgrades; the conservation architect, Jonathan Stone; and employees of Fikile Construction.

“The City of Johannesburg strives to be a smart city by providing services that are easy to access and use by being efficient and responsive to the needs of its people,” said Tau. “Increased literacy, skills and lifelong learning among all levels of our citizens is our aim in improving the quality of life for everyone.”

Some 566 people can be accommodated in the building, from the 255 seats it had previously. Study spaces, meeting and discussion areas, and a centre to teach computer literacy are all part of the new modern face of the library.

New floors
Three new floors rise in the centre of the original building. It has been brought up-to-speed regarding electronic information, and has 212 public access computers and wi-fi areas. The old theatre has also been restored and is now a public activity space or conference venue.

Executive mayor Parks Tau and MMC Chric Vondo are briefed about the new developents at the libraryExecutive mayor Parks Tau and MMC Chris Vondo are briefed about the new developents at the libraryOnce all the work is completed, it is expected that the library will help users become part of a global learning network and enable them to share their learning experiences.

“Reading is important; it is a means of language acquisition, of communication and of sharing information and ideas,” Tau said. He also mentioned the City’s delight at being part of this important occasion, seeing the library come back to life.

“Neal Petersen, a South African yachtsman who was the first black person to sail solo around the world, went global at his little local library on the Cape Flats when he discovered sailing and the art of navigation through books. Neal testifies that books are about more than having access to information; it is about what one does with that information and where it can take you.”

Libraries attracted and served users from all walks of life, including parents picking out their children’s first picture books and those seeking recreational reading material from all across the world, as well as students and international researchers making use of special collections.

Africana
At the central library, the collections include Africana in the Harold Strange Collection of African Studies; the Michaelis art collection; the performing arts collection; the newspaper and picture collection; and the children’s book collection.

But its Africana collection is the jewel in its crown. It has a vast amount of material covering all aspects of the history and culture of Southern Africa. It includes manuscripts, maps, private papers, books, pamphlets and photographs. For researchers, there are also collections of African languages, literature and ethnology as well as the history of the Witwatersrand, gold mining and Johannesburg.

A newspaper collection offers bound and micro-filmed newspapers dating from the early 19th century, as well as cuttings covering a broad range of topics. The Michaelis art and the performing arts collections contain in-depth resources in fields such as the visual and dramatic arts.

New escalators have been installedNew escalators have been installedAdditional toilet facilities, modernised lifts, and upgraded electrical and air-conditioning systems will also help make the library, both the old and new sections, a fully functional space more like a socially inclusive living room or home-from-home.

Apart from all the upgrades, a number of interventions to alleviate high levels of poverty, unemployment and social exclusion have been incorporated into the facility’s centre for excellence. This centre will have a focused support area that will work to narrow the skills mismatch between industry needs and the available labour force, to help combat the unemployment rate.

Supporting under-resourced school library services with professional staff members skilled in assisting any task or activity required is another of the facility’s mandates.

Funding
Funding of about R26-million came from the Carnegie Corporation to upgrade and increase the range of library services; an additional R67,5-million renovation commitment came from the City. The project, which is scheduled to be completed soon, will be kitted out with state-of-the-art material in early 2012, in preparation for its opening.

Upgrades involved renovating the original building, built in 1934, as well as constructing a three-storey addition in the central courtyard. The buildings are linked by escalators and bridges. Construction was delayed by challenges unique to heritage buildings; for example, a complete upgrade of the water and electricity supply was required.

The funding provided for:

The appointment and training of staff to weed the specialised reference collections of irrelevant, unused, out-of-date and worn materials;
The linking of the remaining stock of the specialised collections to the data base;
Subscribing to electronic databases;
Buying and linking new stock; and
Buying audio-visual equipment and equipment for the digitisation of the library’s news cuttings collection.
Artwork New artwork has been added“By providing greater access to smart technology, Joburg can help bridge the digital divide and drive economical growth and development in our city, while delivering on several of the city’s Joburg 2040 outcomes,” Tau said.

“Looking back at the history of the Johannesburg City Library area and seeing this beautiful precinct and facility, one gets a feeling of satisfaction and pride.”

It was one of the oldest and most established libraries in the country. It opened its doors on 6 August 1935, the successor to two earlier buildings – the Old Church Building used from 1893 to 1898 and the Kerk Street Library, built in 1898, he added.

“As was the practice at that time, those were subscription libraries. Only those who could afford to pay the fees could become members and users. At a rowdy meeting in 1923 and despite some fierce opposition, the subscribers agreed to transfer the [Joburg City] Library to the town council so that it would become a free learning library. It was the first major library in South Africa to do so.”

Building of the Johannesburg Public Library began in 1931 and was completed in 1935. The design was the result of an architectural competition won by the Cape Town architect, John Perry. It was the first public library in South Africa to open its doors to all races, which it did in 1974.

As is the case of the building, the contents are invaluable and represent many years of hard work, dedication and knowledge. Above all, its major contribution to librarianship is the outstanding collection of books for study and research.

Donations
“The Michaelis art library, the performing arts library, the Strange Library of African Studies (Africana Collection) and the children’s book collection are examples of exceptional specialist collections that were enriched by special collections or donations that were incorporated over the years. The general collections are of very high standard, especially the reference, young adults’ reference and the multimedia collections.”

Gothic windowsThe high Gothic windows lend a Medieval aura to the libraryA conservative estimate of the value of the more than one million books – some of which are very rare – and other items in the collections is R600-million. The book stock and other resources are housed in the library as well as in an additional basement and stack areas totalling about 10 900m2. A large portion of the stack area is situated under the parking garage between Market and President streets.

Tau explained that the City alone and in isolation could not sustain its infrastructure investment. It would take the community, private sector, organisations of civil society and government partnerships to expand existing initiatives and find new and innovative ways to accelerate service delivery.

“The approval of the grant funding by the Carnegie was based on an agreement with the City to provide the capital funds for the upgrading or extension of the library and the provision of operational funds to sustain the projects.”

Apart from helping to fund the renovations, the Carnegie Corporation also chose the Johannesburg City Library for its Revitalizing of African Libraries Programme.

“Let me take this opportunity on behalf of the Johannesburg council, its residents and citizens to thank the Carnegie Corporation of New York for not only funding this project but for their guidance and support from 2005, when this project begun,” the mayor concluded.