With the budget allocation of R1-billion for the advancement of libraries, the sector can now look forward to a happier future. For a division used to harping on about lack of infrastructure, outdated books and limited access to information technology the conditional grant, to be spent over three years, is the stuff of which dreams are made.
Trying to get librarians on record this week proved difficult though since it seemed that the entire profession was behind closed doors in Durban at a planning meeting for the World Library and Information Congress set to take place there in August. The red-carpet event will, for librarians, be the equivalent of the Cannes Film Festival, with some 3 000 international delegates in attendance.
There has already been rejoicing over the budget announcement. As one executive committee member of the Libraries and Information Association of South Africa (Liasa) put it: “we are all very excited. At ground level everyone is ecstatic. Every cent is assisting — everyone is focusing on staffing and books because all the books are outdated.”
With the news of the grant still buzzing, librarians were, until Thursday, trying to understand whether the R1-billion earmarked for development was an additional amount, over and above last year’s comparable grant or whether this was a reiteration of last year’s budget, also in the region of R1-billion. Either way, the heated moaning from educationalists and activists may simmer down as plans are implemented.
The budget for the first year of expenditure is finalised. According to Liasa executive member and library coordinator of the Emfuleni municipality (previously the Vaal Triangle), Marina van Wyk, infrastructural planning for libraries has, in many provinces, been put on hold. She points to a lack of building materials as a result of development around the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
This has meant that other objectives have had to be met. Existing libraries in the country will be upgraded to make them more user friendly; better services will be brought to the rural areas in the form of mobile libraries, containers and depots; books in indigenous languages and by African authors will be obtained and libraries will be furnished with computers. Generally, Van Wyk says, the new deal will concentrate heavily on transformation.
Many of the titles to be purchased will be of direct relevance to the schools’ curricula, literacy development, arts, culture, science, technology and health. Van Wyk said that libraries in the country had to be understood as “the universities of the poor”.
Another challenge to the sector is underqualified librarians, so the budget will contain a training component. A librarian who preferred to remain anonymous said some libraries were having difficulty shelving new books since there is a lack of knowledge about book classification.
“These books must get to the user quicker and hopefully this will be addressed by the grant.”
The consolidation of official support for libraries has come amid much complaint about the state of libraries in the country. As one librarian put it, “Libraries have always been lower on the list of priorities than cemeteries.”
Librarians are now looking forward to National Library Week from March 19 to 23 when Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan will give the official line on the continuing debate about advancements in their sector.