Tomorrow, 13 July 2019, the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Community Development, Cllr Nonhlanhla Sifumba will be serving and engaging with members of the public at the Joburg City Library during the extended hours.
Senior Library and Information Services Officials will be accompanying the MMC.
The Johannesburg City Library (JCL), where it is currently situated, opened in 1935. It was the first public library in South Africa to open its doors to all races in 1974. The original library’s capacity of 11 198 m² has been increased by an additional 1 967m², and provides seating for 566 people.
The Library was renovated into a Centre of Excellence which re-opened in 2012, and now houses about 1, 5 million items which include books, DVDs, CDs, sheet music and periodicals. The library building also has a coffee shop for users and community members; a theatre for library activities and conferences; dedicated space for 212 workstations with free internet access; a performing arts section for musicians, as well as a multimedia centre with listening and viewing booths.
The revamped sections include the Lending library, Africana, Reference, Visual Arts, Newspaper, and Young Adults’ Reference.
Despite facing challenges such as budgetary constraints, the library has a team of dedicated staff who continue to run reading Development Programmes; Science Scuffle; Reading Club; Holiday programmes; Story sessions for children; Business workshops with focus on women and youth; eLearning programmes; Homework Assistance; Youth programmes; PWD programme for the deaf; Social cohesion programmes to celebrate national and international events.
In the past financial year, 8 242 beneficiaries accessed the Library on Saturdays and Sunday through the City’s Diphetogo Budget, focusing on pro-poor development that provides meaningful redress. This was over and above the 328 386 overall visitations that year.
Over the next three financial years, the City has allocated R19 million for the improvement of the Centre of Excellence at the Library, as well as part of R10 million for RFID Tagging to ensure greater security for library resources across the City.
Additionally, the Library and Information Services Directorate within the Community Development Department has been partnering with organisations such as Friends of the Library and private sector organisations such as Google for additional resources.
The MMC’s Library Visit Details are as follows:
Date: Saturday, 13 July 2019
Time: 10:00am – 11:00am
Venue: Albertina Sisulu Rd &, Pixley Ka Isaka Seme St, Johannesburg, 2000
Members of the media are invited to attend the MMC’s Visit.
For media queries, please contact:
Ms Karabo Tledima
Stakeholder Manager: MMC for Community Development
Cell: 061 794 3819
Tel: 011 407 7208
Email: Karabot@joburg.org.za
