Mitchell’s Plain Town Centre Library hosted an event incorporating arts, dance and fun in celebration of South African Library Week.
From Monday March 14 to Sunday March 20 City of Cape Town libraries embodied the theme “Re-Imagine! RePurpose! ReDiscover Your Library”.
It was designed to have patrons own their library space and have it repurposed and rediscovered by the youth and senior citizens.
Local community organisations, artists and businesses – QRock Foundation, VonD, U-Turn, Edubiz, Mochachos Promenade and CellC – all joined hands to participate in the “rarra-tyd” on Thursday March 17 outside of the library.
The annual week allows patrons to return overdue library items without paying a fine.
City libraries now offer several e-resources., with patrons able to access e-books and audio books online and read or listen to them on any smart mobile device or personal computer.
All you need is your library card to access e-books on OverDrive via the free Libby app, which allows you to log in to your local library and then access e-books, audiobooks, and magazines.
Use your library card number to register and the password will be the last six digits of your card number.
Also available is PressReader, which allows patrons to read magazines and newspapers from around the world.
Patrons of the City libraries are able to access this resource from their desktops, as well as from smart mobile devices by visiting the Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) via https://opac,capetown.gov.za.
From Friday April 1, overdue library items will again start to incur fines so use this opportunity to return library items in your possession that are long overdue.
Mayoral committee member for community services and health Patricia van der Ross said South African Library Week was a celebration of the country’s intellectual and literary heritage.
“Libraries play a vital role in collecting, organising, and providing access to information and resources. While they have a responsibility to improve the health literacy of communities, our libraries are also places of knowledge and recreation,” she said.
She also hoped that these fun and interactive events would have teens rediscover the magic of libraries.
“See libraries not only as safe spaces, but also spaces where learning is fun and creative,” said Ms Van der Ross.