The Eastern Cape government plans to bring all public libraries in the province under a single provincial system by 2030 to improve access, resources and digital services.
The plan was announced by sport, recreation, arts and culture MEC Sibulele Ngongo at the opening of the three-day Libraries of the Future Expo in KuGompo City on Monday.
The expo brings together academics, ICT specialists and library practitioners to discuss the evolving role of libraries in a rapidly changing digital and knowledge environment.
Ngongo said the province had a rich intellectual and cultural heritage that must be preserved and made accessible.
“The province is rich with intellectual and cultural heritage, from indigenous knowledge systems preserved within communities to the academic work produced by our universities and research institutions, and this knowledge has always played a central role in the development of our society,” she said.
“Libraries connect these worlds. They connect local knowledge with global knowledge, connect the past with the future and connect communities with opportunity.”
Ngongo said the department had adopted a clear timeline to bring the management of public libraries under the domain of the provincial government.
“We have a concrete, time-bound plan — to finalise the provincialisation of public libraries across the province by 2030. This is not an aspiration, it is a commitment.
“Every community library, every rural reading room, every school community library that still struggles for resources will be brought under a single, well-resourced provincial system that guarantees equitable access, modern infrastructure and professional staffing.
“Provincialisation is the vehicle through which we will finally close the gap between urban excellence and rural exclusion.”
She said the department was involved in efforts to review and update the Library and Information Service Act.
“The new legislation we are crafting will not only modernise governance but will explicitly recognise and support ICT services as a core mandate of every library.
“Wi-Fi, digital literacy hubs, e-learning platforms, AI-assisted research tools and community coding spaces will no longer be ‘nice-to-haves’; they will be legislated, funded and non-negotiable components of the library of the future.”
Speaking on the sidelines of the expo, Ngongo said details on funding for digitisation would be revealed during her budget policy speech on Tuesday next week.
She said the department was moving away from the traditional model of libraries and embracing digital access, partly because of challenges such as burglaries and crime at library facilities, as well as difficulties faced by residents who lived far from libraries.
“Having a smartphone, you are able to register and become a member of the library and be able to access all the books in the library,” she said.
Nation Madikiza, from the office of the Eastern Cape premier, said 101 libraries in the province had already been connected to broadband, with 19 more expected to be connected by the end of November.
Madikiza said the sites were connected through fibre with speeds ranging from 100Mbps to 1Gbps on a library’s virtual private network.
He said the office of the premier was targeting 2,700 broadband connections to support the libraries of the future.
The expo also highlighted efforts to improve access for blind and visually impaired readers.
South African Library for the Blind public relations and communications officer Vusumzi Mkhetshane said it had established mini libraries in libraries across the province.
The organisation offers a range of services, including the conversion of books into Braille, audio and tactile formats.
“We aim to ensure that blind and visually impaired people have access to a library equal to that of sighted people.
“Blind, visually impaired and handicapped people have been challenged for many years in terms of accessing information. With the existence of the SA Library for the Blind, we have managed to close that gap,” Mkhetshane said.
The expo continues on Tuesday.
