Last year, City of Joburg Executive Mayor, Cllr Herman Mashaba, made a commitment to extend library hours to some of Johannesburg’s regional libraries in line with demand, and to redress the imbalances of the past.
This much anticipated programme was officially launched on the 3rd of June 2017, and so far a total of 1 908 users have benefited. Libraries are a fountain of knowledge, and with the smart initiatives of the City, users have access to Wi-Fi, connecting them to internet learning resources and potential economic opportunities.
Our libraries will now operate for an additional 4 hours from 13h00 – 17h00 on Saturdays. This is to allow working residents, who often have no time to visit our libraries, to access to these facilities.
– Johannesburg Mayor, Herman Mashaba
The operating hours have been extended to 11 libraries across the City:
- Diepsloot: Region A;
- Ivory Park North: Region A;
- Randburg: Region B;
- Florida: Region C;
- Protea North: Region D;
- Jabavu: Region D;
- Sandton: Region E;
- Yeoville: Region F;
- Ennerdale Extension 9: Region G;
- Orange Farm: Region G; and
- Johannesburg City Library: Region F.
The extension also targets students from previously forgotten communities who need to study, but find their home environment not conducive to productive studying over the weekends. The Library Information Services (LIS) directorate, under Community Development in the City, is exploring the possibility of increasing the number of libraries that offer extended hours in the following areas:
Kaalfontein: Region A;
Matholesville: Region; C
Paterson Park: Region E; and
Driezik, Lehae and Naturena: Region G.