KwaZulu-Natal’s libraries will feel the effects of a R90-million budget cut in the 2005/06 financial year, but officials in the province’s department of arts, culture and tourism say they are seeking ways to minimise the impact.
Department head Bonga Ntanzi said on Tuesday: ”The intention is that the reprioritisation should at most slow down the purchasing of new books and other library material, not end it.
”Existing stocks held in depots will continue to be circulated and, as soon as funds become available, new purchases will be made.”
Ntanzi also slammed a media report that said public libraries in the province are to suffer from large reductions in the budget allocated to the directorate of library services and information for book purchasing and library building.
He said the report is ”alarmist and exaggerated” and that the intention is to slow down the purchasing of new books and other library material, not end it.
”The reading public will continue to be served in the same way and are unlikely to notice the effects of the reprioritisation,” said Ntanzi.
He said during the budget debate in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature in May, the House unanimously accepted that the department is underfunded. However, subsequent negotiations with the Treasury failed to secure new funds. — Sapa