Central Library Cape Town

Last updated

Central Library Cape Town
Old Drill Hall, Darling Street, Cape town.JPG
Old Drill Hall
Central Library Cape Town
33°55′33″S18°25′27″E / 33.9259°S 18.4243°E / -33.9259; 18.4243
LocationOld Drill Hall, Parade Street, Cape Town, South Africa
TypePublic library
Established1954
Branch of City of Cape Town Library and Information Service
Access and use
Circulation357,412 [1]
Other information
Website Central Public Library
OpenStreetMap Cape Town small.svg
Red pog.svg
Central Library Cape Town
Location Central Library in Cape Town.
Interior of the library Cape Town Central Library interior 2018a.jpg
Interior of the library

Central Library Cape Town is a public library in Cape Town, South Africa. It is one of 104 libraries within the City of Cape Town Library and Information Services. [2]

Contents

Central Library includes lending and reference services as well as specialised art and music sections. There are 90 plus computers plus free Wi-Fi for library members. The library offers books, CDs, DVDs, audiobooks and magazines for loan. It is the only public library in Cape Town with books in all 11 official languages and also has books in foreign languages. [3]

Introduction

Central Library was established in 1954 when the Cape Town City Libraries took over the subscription library of the South African Library. [4] In 1962 the library moved to the Waalburg building in the city centre. In 1982 the library moved again, this time to Cape Town's City Hall [5] The library received two grants from the Carnegie Corporation which allowed the library collections to be significantly improved and extended and a computer centre was established. [6] The City of Cape Town, provided funds for a new library to be established in the Old Drill Hall. Central Library opened in this new permanent site in 2008. [7]

History

There has been a public library in the centre of Cape Town since 1818 when the South African Public Library (SAPL) was established. [8] This was a free library until 1829 when it became a subscription library. In 1952 the Cape Town City Library Service (CTLS) was established to create a free municipal library service for Cape Town. In December 1954, after negotiations, the CTLS took over the subscription library of the South African Public Library, buying the stock and renting the reading room. Central Library was established and opened to the public in January 1955. In 1956 a branch was opened in Long Street which included non-fiction books, children's books and music. In 1962 Central moved from SAPL to SANLAM building, Waal Street. The music section was also moved from Long Street to this building. In 1965 the Central and Long Street branches were amalgamated to form a new and enlarged Central branch. [9] Apartheid legislation affected the service offered by libraries. The 1953 Reservation of Separate Amenities Act resulted in libraries being designated for specific library groups. [10] In 1969 City Park library was opened and all "non-white" members of Central were transferred to City Park Library. [11] However the Central information and Music libraries could still be used by ‘non-white" members. [12]

Art Library

One of only two public art libraries in South Africa. The library covers all aspects of arts and crafts and is especially strong in African and South African art; Photography; Fashion and Graphic Design. The library is well used by students and local craftsmen and artists. The art library, as a specialised department within Central, opened in 1965. [9]

The Performing Arts & Music Library

A music library was included in the Long Street Library when it opened in 1956. The library included gramophone records, sheet music and the Evelyn Fincken Collection and the collection of the Cape Guild of Organists. The first issue of gramophone records in South Africa by a public library was on 5 July 1956 from the Long Street Library. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Town</span> Legislative capital of South Africa

Cape Town is the legislative capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the country's second-largest city, after Johannesburg, and the largest in the Western Cape. The city is part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Public Library</span> Library in Massachusetts, US

The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also Massachusetts' Library for the Commonwealth, meaning all adult residents of the state are entitled to borrowing and research privileges, and the library receives state funding. The Boston Public Library contains approximately 24 million items, making it the third-largest public library in the United States behind the federal Library of Congress and New York Public Library, which is also privately endowed. The Central Library's McKim building in Copley Square was designated as a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto Public Library</span> Public library system in Toronto, Canada

Toronto Public Library (TPL) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2023 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other public library system internationally, making it the largest neighbourhood-based library system in the world. Within North America, it also had the highest circulation and visitors when compared to other large urban systems. Established as the library of the Mechanics' Institute in 1830, the Toronto Public Library now consists of 100 branch libraries and has over 26 million items in its collection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Makhanda, South Africa</span> Town in Eastern Cape, South Africa

Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about 125 kilometres (80 mi) northeast of Gqeberha and 160 kilometres (100 mi) southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Municipality, and the seat of the municipal council. It also hosts Rhodes University, the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court, the South African Library for the Blind (SALB), a diocese of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, and 6 South African Infantry Battalion. Furthermore, located approximately 3 km south-east of the town lies Waterloo Farm, the only estuarine fossil site in the world from 360 million years ago with exceptional soft-tissue preservation.

The San Antonio Public Library (SAPL) is the public library system serving the city of San Antonio, Texas. It consists of a central library, 29 branch libraries, and a library portal. SAPL was awarded the National Medal for Museum and Library Service in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gardens, Cape Town</span> Inner-city suburb of Cape Town in Western Cape, South Africa

Gardens is an affluent inner-city suburb of Cape Town located just to the south of the city centre located in the higher elevations of the "City Bowl" and directly beneath Table Mountain and Lion's Head. It is home to several national museums such as Iziko South African National Gallery and the Iziko South African Museum. The University of Cape Town also houses its Fine Arts department in the suburb, at Michaelis School of Fine Art. Company's Garden, South Africa's oldest garden, a public park and heritage site is a focal point of the suburb. The area is also home to the oldest synagogue in Southern Africa, the Old Shul and its successor, the Gardens Shul, "The Mother Synagogue of South Africa."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gardens Shul</span> Modern Orthodox synagogue in Cape Town, South Africa

The Gardens Shul, formally the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation (CTHC), also called the Great Synagogue, is a Modern Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in the Company Gardens, in the Gardens neighborhood of Cape Town, South Africa. The congregation was established in 1841, making it the oldest Jewish congregation in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maynardville Open-Air Theatre</span> Outdoor theatre in Cape Town, South Africa

The Maynardville Open-Air Theater is an outdoor theatre in Maynardville Park, Wynberg, Cape Town, South Africa. It seats 720 people and is known for its annual Shakespeare in the Park plays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannesburg City Library</span> Library in Johannesburg, South Africa

The Johannesburg City Library is situated in the central business district of the City of Johannesburg. The Library is located in an Italianate building designed by John Perry which first opened in 1935. It has over 1.5-million books and items in its collection and more than 250 000 members.

The National Library of Zimbabwe also known National Free Library of Zimbabwe is located in Bulawayo second biggest city in Zimbabwe. It was established under the National Library and Documentation Service (NLDS) Act Chapter 25:10 act of 1985 which was passed by the Zimbabwean Government in 1985.

The following is a timeline of the history of Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Johannesburg, in the Gauteng province in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fish Hoek Library</span> Public library in Fish Hoek in Cape Town, South Africa

Fish Hoek Library is a public library in the seaside suburb of Fish Hoek in Cape Town, South Africa. It was ranked 5th in the City of Cape Town's top circulating libraries in 2015

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Cape Town Libraries</span> Library system of the University of Cape Town

University of Cape Town Libraries is the library system of the University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Cenotaph, Cape Town</span> War memorial in Cape Town, South Africa

The Cenotaph is a war memorial on Heerengracht Street in Cape Town. The city's annual Remembrance Day ceremonies are held there. It is classified as a public memorial and as such is subject to protection in terms of heritage legislation administered by Heritage Western Cape, the provincial heritage resources authority of the Western Cape province of South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art in Cardiff</span> Overview of visual arts of Cardiff, UK

Art in Cardiff refers to the culture of visual arts in Cardiff, capital city of Wales. The visual arts in Cardiff have a much more recent history than many British cities, due to it being a very small town until rapid growth took place in the mid nineteenth century. Cardiff School of Art originated in 1865 and the first major public art exhibition took place in 1870. The town became a city in 1905, after which time it gained further importance, for example with the creation of a new National Museum. Into the 21st century it has a thriving art scene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libraries in Brighton and Hove</span>

The English coastal city of Brighton and Hove has a long and varied history of libraries going back over 250 years. Subscription libraries were among the earliest buildings in the resort of Brighton, which developed in the late 18th century; by the 1780s these facilities, which were more like social clubs than conventional book-borrowing venues, were at the heart of the town's social scene. The Brighton Literary Society, its successor the Brighton Royal Literary and Scientific Institution and its rival the Sussex Scientific Institution between them established a "very fine collection" of publications by the mid-19th century, and these books were donated to the town when a public library was founded in 1871. Neighbouring Hove, originally a separate village, established its own public library in 1890.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meadowridge Library</span> Public library in the suburb of Meadowridge, in Cape Town, South Africa

Meadowridge Library is a public library in the suburb of Meadowridge, in Cape Town, South Africa. It has 8,112 members, and was ranked 14th in the City of Cape Town's top 20 circulating libraries in 2014, out of the city's 101 libraries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Book fairs in South Africa</span>

Book fairs and literary festivals are held throughout South Africa each year to promote literacy among children and adults. A country's literacy rate is often a key social indicator of development. In 2005, UNESCO Institute for Statistics reported a literacy rate of 94.37% among the population aged 15 years and older. The literacy rate among the male population in this age group was 95.4% and 93.41 for female counterparts. According to Statistics South Africa, functional illiteracy among those aged 20 years or older, was recorded at 15.4% in 2005. This has improved from 2002's 27.3%. Women are more likely to be functionally illiterate across all age groups, apart from those aged between 20 and 39 years old.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of Cape Town</span> List of links to articles about Cape Town on Wikipedia

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cape Town:

References

  1. "About us". City of Cape Town. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  2. Library and Information Services Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine , City of Cape Town website
  3. Central Library, Cape Town Magazine, Antonio Heil
  4. , 1954 annual report
  5. , 1981 annual report
  6. "City of Cape Town". City of Cape Town. 2008. Archived from the original on 14 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  7. "'New' Central Library will be a Centre of Excellence for all Capetonians". City of Cape Town. City of Cape Town. 2008. Archived from the original on 14 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  8. "Wherewe". Where we come from. National Library of South Africa. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  9. 1 2 "Annual Report 1967" (PDF). City of Cape Town. 1968. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  10. "South African Parliament repeals The Separate Amenities Act of 1953". South African History Online. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  11. "Annual Report 1968-1969-1970". Cape Town: Digitized Pamphlet Files. City of Cape Town. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  12. Minutes of meeting held at Central Library, Burg St, Monday 27 January 1969. Available from Central Library Archive, Cape Town
  13. "Annual Report 1956" (PDF). Cape Town: Digitized Pamphlet Files. City of Cape Town. 1957. Retrieved 11 October 2014.