The City of Cape Town’s Directorate for Community Services and Health is gearing up to host South African Library Week (SALW).
The SALW is a week-long event dedicated to promoting information services and resources as well as reading, and the benefits of literacy, according to the Western Cape Government.
Library Week is observed annually in the third week March .To kick off SALW this year, the City’s Library services will be hosting a march through the Cape Town city centre on Friday, March 15.
Mayco Member for Community Services, Patricia van der Ross, said that the theme is “Libraries foster social cohesion”.
SALW coincides with the Fine Free Week which is also observed from March 18 to 23, 2024. Fine Free Week provides library patrons with the opportunity to return outstanding items without paying any fines.
Van der Ross said: “Our libraries provide access to information and engage communities on several platforms. We provide the tools for communication, and learning, which include making material accessible and available to all our patrons. During Fine Free Week, our patrons have the opportunity to play their part and return outstanding material so we can share the wealth of knowledge and enjoyment.”
According to van der Ross, there was a slight decline in the number and value of outstanding items from City libraries. Currently, the City’s libraries have 35 411 items valued at R3.9 million outstanding.
“While we are enthused by the drop in the number of outstanding items, the fact that material worth nearly R4 million is still unaccounted for remains a bitter pill to swallow. Our libraries have limited budgets, and so are not always able to replace items.
“So, I want to encourage our patrons to return outstanding items as it will give others a fair opportunity to enjoy them and ease the load on our library collection,” van der Ross said.
In addition to participating in SALW festivities, the City’s Central, Wynberg, Langa, Harare and Pinelands libraries will also take part in the literary programme of the Open Book Festival.
