National Library of South Africa

Last updated

National Library of South Africa
Staats-Bibliotheek der Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek
National Library of South Africa logo.svg
National Library of South Africa, 1900.jpg
National Library of South Africa, Cape Town campus (old postcard)
National Library of South Africa
33°55′31″S18°25′07″E / 33.9253°S 18.4187°E / -33.9253; 18.4187 (Cape Town Site)
Location, South Africa
TypeNational Library and Public Library
Established1818;206 years ago (1818)
Other information
DirectorKepi Madumo
Parent organisation Department of Sports, Arts and Culture
Website www.nlsa.ac.za

The National Library of South Africa is the agency of the government of South Africa which maintains a national library of all published materials relating to the country. [1]

Contents

History

In 1818, Lord Charles Somerset, the Cape Colony's first civil Governor, issued a proclamation to control the wine trade, imposing a tax on wine brought into Cape Town for sale. [2] The net proceeds would be used to form a Public Library which should "lay the foundation of a system, which shall place the means of knowledge within reach of the youth of this remote corner of the Globe," (presuming a globe hath corners) "and bring within their reach what the most eloquent of ancient writers has considered to be one of the first blessings of life, 'Home Education'." [3] Since that time, South Africa's library development was bifurcated although the library in Cape Town was the original establishment. The most likely model for Cape Town's "Public Library" was the London Institution (established in 1805 in the style of an Athenaeum). [3]

The Library's first significant acquisition was the collection of Joachim Nikolaus von Dessin  [ af ], who bequeathed his books to the Dutch Reformed Church in 1761 to serve as the foundation of a public library. In 1820 the board of trustees decided to donate the Dessinian Collection to the new library. Other notable donations followed over the years, among others Sir George Grey who when he left South Africa in 1861 presented the Library with his remarkable personal collection of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts and rare books. In 1873 the South African Public Library became a legal deposit library for the Cape Colony, and from 1916 it received all printed items published throughout the country. The Library continued as a legal deposit library until 1954, when this function was taken over by the City of Cape Town. From then on it began to develop its unique character as a national reference library devoted to research based on its extensive stock, with a concurrent name change in 1967 to the South African Library. [4]

Diplomat Edmund Roberts visited the library, then called the South African Library around 1833 and described it as "once the pride and boast of the colony." He noted that the library had approximately 10,000 volumes and called it a "highly creditable place." [5]

The State Library

The Staats-Bibliotheek der Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, 'State Library of the South African Republic' came into being thanks to a donation of books from the Maatschappij der Nederlandsche Letterkunde. These books consisted of a complete library of Dutch works, mainly Dutch literature and language, to the Transvaal Republic's government. The first consignment of eight chests of books arrived in 1883, including a chest from the Dutch Bible Society. On 21 September 1887 the Transvaal government approved the constitution of the Staats-Bibliotheek. [6] As Pretoria began to grow in size, there arose a need for a public library. The State Library functioned as both a public and national library, from  the early 1890’s to 1964. The State Library ultimately took the responsibility of legal deposit too. These two libraries merged in November of 1999 and became the National Library of South Africa.

The first Pretoria Public Library had opened its doors in 1878, but because of ongoing financial problems was closed down in 1890. In 1893 strong public support and a collection of 700 saw another public library arise, this time under the wing of the Staats-Bibliotheek and with the bookstock of the former Public Library. From that time onward until 1964, the State Library performed a dual role as public library and national library. The first national librarian, the Afrikaans poet Jan Celliers, saw exchange agreements as a means of enriching the State Library's collections. The first exchange agreement was entered into in 1898 with the Smithsonian Institution of Washington in the United States. In terms of the agreement the State Library would receive all American official publications in exchange for two copies of each official publication of the South African republic. From the early thirties under the guidance of the visionary national librarian Matthew Stirling, the State Library began to develop the character of a central library for South Africa, taking on functions such as striving for a national library lending system and a centre for bibliographical information. [4]

Modern consolidation

Contemporary view of the entrance to the library in Cape Town Libreria Nacional, Ciudad del Cabo, Sudafrica, 2018-07-19, DD 09.jpg
Contemporary view of the entrance to the library in Cape Town

Until 1 November 1999, for historical reasons, South Africa had two national libraries, the South African Library, founded in 1818, in Cape Town, and the State Library, founded in 1887, in Pretoria. In terms of South African legal deposit legislation, each of the national libraries was a legal deposit library, entitled to receive from the publishers a gratis copy of every book, serial, newspaper, government publication or other printed item published in South Africa. In South Africa legal deposit, in some form or another, dates back to 1842. As a result, extensive collections of material of great scholarly value have been built up in the former national libraries. During the 1990s the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology began a review of all legislation under its jurisdiction, including the National Libraries Act, No 56 of 1985. The Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology in 1996 appointed a Working Group on the National Libraries of South Africa to advise him on the future of the two national libraries. The most important recommendation of the Working Group was that the two national libraries be amalgamated to form a dual-site (Cape Town and Pretoria) national library, to be known as the National Library of South Africa. [4] [7]

Creation under the National Library Act

Entrance foyer of the new, 2008, National Library, Pretoria National Library of South Africa, Pretoria.jpg
Entrance foyer of the new, 2008, National Library, Pretoria

The National Library of South Africa's core national library functions are described in Section 4 subsection 1 of the National Library Act, No 92 of 1998, and cover the following broad areas:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legal deposit</span> Legal requirement on publications

Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary repository of these copies. In some countries there is also a legal deposit requirement placed on the government, and it is required to send copies of documents to publicly accessible libraries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graaff-Reinet</span> Place in Eastern Cape, South Africa

Graaff-Reinet is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province and the fourth oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The town was the centre of a short-lived republic in the late 18th century. The town was a starting point for Great Trek groups led by Gerrit Maritz and Piet Retief and furnished large numbers of the Voortrekkers in 1835–1842.

The following lists events that happened during 1898 in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Library of the Netherlands</span> National Library of the Netherlands

The Royal Library of the Netherlands is the national library of the Netherlands, based in The Hague, founded in 1798.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pretoria Boys High School</span> All-boys public school in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

Pretoria Boys High School is a public, tuition-charging, English-medium high school for boys situated in the suburb of Brooklyn in Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa, founded in 1901 by Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German National Library</span> Central archival library and national bibliographic centre

The German National Library is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to collect, permanently archive, comprehensively document and record bibliographically all German and German-language publications since 1913, foreign publications about Germany, translations of German works, and the works of German-speaking emigrants published abroad between 1933 and 1945, and to make them available to the public. The DNB is also responsible for the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie and several special collections like the Deutsches Exilarchiv 1933–1945, Anne-Frank-Shoah-Bibliothek and the Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum. The German National Library maintains co-operative external relations on a national and international level. For example, it is the leading partner in developing and maintaining bibliographic rules and standards in Germany and plays a significant role in the development of international library standards. The cooperation with publishers has been regulated by law since 1935 for the Deutsche Bücherei Leipzig and since 1969 for the Deutsche Bibliothek Frankfurt am Main.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis William Reitz</span> South African politician and statesman

Francis William Reitz, Jr. was a South African lawyer, politician, statesman, publicist, and poet who was a member of parliament of the Cape Colony, Chief Justice and fifth State President of the Orange Free State, State Secretary of the South African Republic at the time of the Second Boer War, and the first president of the Senate of the Union of South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State Library of South Australia</span> Reference library in Adelaide, South Australia

The State Library of South Australia, or SLSA, formerly known as the Public Library of South Australia, located on North Terrace, Adelaide, is the official library of the Australian state of South Australia. It is the largest public research library in the state, with a collection focus on South Australian information, being the repository of all printed and audiovisual material published in the state, as required by legal deposit legislation. It holds the "South Australiana" collection, which documents South Australia from pre-European settlement to the present day, as well as general reference material in a wide range of formats, including digital, film, sound and video recordings, photographs, and microfiche. Home access to many journals, newspapers and other resources online is available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biblioteca Nacional de España</span> Public library in Madrid, Spain

The Biblioteca Nacional de España is a major public library, the largest in Spain, and one of the largest in the world. It is located in Madrid, on the Paseo de Recoletos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law of South Africa</span> Legal system of the Republic of South Africa

South Africa has a 'hybrid' or 'mixed' legal system, formed by the interweaving of a number of distinct legal traditions: a civil law system inherited from the Dutch, a common law system inherited from the British, and a customary law system inherited from indigenous Africans. These traditions have had a complex interrelationship, with the English influence most apparent in procedural aspects of the legal system and methods of adjudication, and the Roman-Dutch influence most visible in its substantive private law. As a general rule, South Africa follows English law in both criminal and civil procedure, company law, constitutional law and the law of evidence; while Roman-Dutch common law is followed in the South African contract law, law of delict (tort), law of persons, law of things, family law, etc. With the commencement in 1994 of the interim Constitution, and in 1997 its replacement, the final Constitution, another strand has been added to this weave.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Gilbert Kotzé</span>

Sir John Gilbert Kotzé KC was a South African jurist.

The National Library of the Republic of Mauritius is the national library of Mauritius. It has been entrusted by law as the national institution responsible for collecting, bibliographically recording, preserving and making available the nation's collective memory, and also provides information on practically all branches of knowledge, and functions as a center of coordination, planning and stimulation of the country's library system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal</span> Portugal national library

The Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal is the Portuguese national library.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Library of Estonia</span> National library of Estonia

The National Library of Estonia is a national public institution in Estonia, which operates pursuant to the National Library of Estonia Act. It was established as the parliamentary library of Estonia on December 21, 1918.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johann Christian Ritter</span>

Johann Christian Ritter was a German in the service of the Dutch East India Company who came to South Africa in 1784. He was the first to print in the Cape, the earliest record is an almanac titled "Almanach voor't jaar 1796".

National and State Libraries Australia (NSLA), formerly National and State Libraries Australasia, is the peak body that represents the national, state and territory libraries of Australia. The libraries collaborate on and support working groups addressing issues including: copyright issues, archival collections, collection development, marketing, collecting and preserving digital content, collections and services focusing on Indigenous Australians, and other issues relating to the collection, storage and dissemination of the various types of resources held by member institutions. It also compiles annual statistics on public library activities and usage throughout Australia, and publishes statistics on the services of its own collaborating libraries. Precursors to the organisation include the State Librarians Council, the State Libraries Council and Council of Australian State Libraries (CASL).

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

The history of libraries in South Africa had its start with libraries formed for private use which later were made available for the general public. In 1761, the most extensive of these early private collections, owned by Joachim von Dessin, the secretary of the Orphan Chamber, was left to the Cape consistory of the Dutch Reformed Church specifically to form the basis of a public library for the advantage of the community.

The following is a timeline of the history of Pretoria, in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, Gauteng province, South Africa.

South African National Library and Information Consortium (SANLiC) is a non-profit consortium of member institutions aimed at negotiating the procurement of, and securing access to information resources on behalf of its members.

References

  1. "National Library of South Africa (NLSA) - Overview". nationalgovernment.co.za. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  2. "History – National Library of South Africa" . Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  3. 1 2 Coates, P. (2012). Was the South African Library an Athenaeum? Quarterly Bulletin of the National Library of South Africa, 66(4), 11–23.
  4. 1 2 3 National Library of South Africa: Where We Come From. Retrieved from http://www.nlsa.ac.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80&Itemid=242
  5. Roberts, Edmund (1837). Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat. New York: Harper & Brothers. p. 396.
  6. https://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1127/1/089-nicholson-en.pdf
  7. Sebe, J. (2009). "Foreword: Celebrating the tenth anniversary of the National Library of South Africa". Quarterly Bulletin of the National Library of South Africa, 63 (3/4), 51–54.

Bibliography