Mayor visits town to open library
Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina has urged the community of Brakpan to utilise and protect its new public library.
The mayor officially opened the library on Wednesday last week, several months after the facility first opened its doors to the public.
Built to the tune of about R14-million, the library is staffed with a control librarian, assistant librarian and seven other officials.
It boasts about 77 000 books and just over 3 600 audiovisual materials.
Wednesday’s event was attended by top Ekurhuleni officials, including MMC for Community Services Clr Dora Mlambo, local ward councillors and other dignitaries.
Event proceedings got off to a start following a beautiful rendition of the national anthem by the Brakpan High School choir.
A highlight of the event was a performance by children from the Thuto Mfundo Childcare Centre in Brakpan.
Clad in traditional attire, the little ones performed two dances, much to the delight of the audience.
Taking to the podium, Masina encouraged residents to safeguard the facility.
“We have noted the new trend that when there are community protests, the first thing people do is to target the very infrastructure that we have spent millions of your rands to build,” he said.
“We want to say the library is yours, and please protect it.
“Community libraries are the special contribution to our general commitment to make education fashionable.”
Also read: Return your overdue library books at no cost
A library serves as a resource of preserving knowledge by documenting the stories and life experiences of people over successive generations.
It connects the new generation with those that came before them through common memories.
This enables the youth to interface with human dynamics of olden days.
Masina commended the youth from Tsakane, who were said to have started to use the library to source information about the history of their township.
The mayor was joined by councillor for Ward 97 in Brakpan, Brandon Pretorius, and Mlambo for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
A plaque commemorating the opening was also unveiled.
The Brakpan Library started from humble beginnings in around 1920, when a municipal office was converted into a library.
It was only accessible to municipal employees and councillors, and the public was not allowed to use it.
It was turned into a public library in 1922.
Brakpan residents have been waiting years for a new library.
The metro made money available for a new library in the town during the 2007/2008 budget but the construction of a new facility only started in 2015.
It progressed until about roof height and then the project came to a standstill due to “non-performance of the contractors”.
A year after construction was halted the partially constructed building was then demolished – as recommended by a structural engineer.
Construction started again soon thereafter and the library finally opened on July 10 last year.
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