A sharp rise in the number of books borrowed during the month of January, which jumped from 10 000 to 40 000, for eThekwini libraries has proved the important role that the facilities play in our society, especially during Covid-19 lockdown.
This was made more evident with the recent commemoration of the South African Library Week, where librarians chose to celebrate the observance under the theme ‘Libraries Matter’. South African libraries, like all other institutions, were severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic since the outbreak last year. For a solid five months, eThekwini libraries were temporarily closed to the public as the country was put under hard lockdown, from March 27.
Noma Ngcobo, Woodhurst librarian, said the situation was not unique to SA. “The closure of libraries meant that a substantive number of patrons could not access library services to meet their academic and recreational needs. This translates to an estimated number of 261 728 library patrons at eThekwini Municipality who were inclined to stay indoors as they played their role in flattening the curve. However, after several months of closure, eThekwini libraries once again opened their doors to the general public in September, offering reduced services while adhering to the health and safety precautions.”
As the 19th celebration of library week was observed, the Library and Information Services in South Africa (LIASA) encouraged librarians and staff to become advocates and remind citizens that ‘libraries matter’. “Libraries are at the heart of the communities they serve. They provide safe, friendly, reliable, and creative spaces where individuals, families, and friends are free to learn, browse, and explore. People can meet their best friends for the first time in a library. Children and youth spend a lot of time studying, reading and in turn developing their social and cognitive skills in libraries,” Ngcobo said.
Woodhurst Library also has general activities rooms which are available for hire to non-government organisations using them for community development. Ngcobo said their book-lending service is open at no cost to the public. She added that eThekwini library users can borrow their favourite books for recreational and academic purposes.
“Post Covid-19 library statistics show that eThekwini libraries lent out close to 40 000 books in the month of January 2021 alone. This is an average increase of 10 000 books lent out in the previous month. These numbers are very impressive considering the fact a lot of our members are still hesitant to leave their homes to go out and the fact that library hours have been reduced due to Covid-19,” said Ngcobo.
The libraries also boast permanent business corners to support economic development by providing free advertising for small to medium-sized businesses. Entrepreneurs can display their brochures and other promotional material at the business corners while the business book collection is available for use as well.
“One of the core functions of libraries is to advocate for literacy and early childhood development. The children’s section of the library is rich with literature to support this function allowing parents to start reading to their children as early as infancy. Teenagers also have their own specialised young-adult collections to navigate, read and support them as they go through their most challenging adolescent years. Library programmes organised and run by librarians play a vital role in advocating for literacy and providing a sense of belonging to teenagers as it gives them a platform to freely express their views on social and academic issues.”
The lending services are available to all registered library users and non-members are encouraged to enroll themselves at their local libraries in order to reap all the benefits of being a library member. The use of cyberzones, WiFi, photocopying and printing services is open to all peoples of the city with experienced and dedicated staff members always readily available to provide IT support to those who are not familiar with using the provided technologies.
“I, as a library and information services professional, feel very passionately about the library service and it is very hard for me to stop once I start talking about the value of library and information services. However, I believe that you can see and can hear that libraries do matter and will always matter for as long as humanity values learning, development, and growth,” said Ngcobo.
The dedicated librarian said that their leaders as well as the Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture management have done a sterling job in protecting the staff and citizens of the country during these unprecedented times.
