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S A Library Week 2008 | Media statement
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Media Statement: 4 March 2008
S A Library Week will be celebrated during the week of 17 to 22 March 2008, with the theme "From local to global @ your library. "
The theme has been inspired by the story of Neal Petersen, the South African yachtsman who was the first black man to sail solo around the world, who says that he would not be where he is today without libraries. Growing up as a young boy on the Cape Flats, he discovered sailing and the art of navigation through books in his local public library and from there truly went from local to global through his library.
Libraries bridge the world and are places of opportunity, as Neal testifies. Libraries are about more than having access to information; it is about what one does with that information and where it can take one. Imagine a young boy discovering books about sailing; a university student doing research; an academic finding the latest research through resources made available by the library; the budding entrepreneur getting guidance on how to set a business up; the young schoolgirl locating information for her research, or an unemployed person posting his/her curriculum vitae (cv) on to websites using the computer provided by the public library or emailing in response to an advertisement he read in the newspaper at his library.
Libraries are also about reading and encouraging a culture of reading, enabling one to explore the world and to broaden one' s horizons … "going from local to global". Think about the internationally published writers who started out by attending writing workshops at their public library; there are the literacy classes run by libraries. What of the steel trunk and container libraries of Biblionef taking books to the rural areas? What about the project by the National Library of South Africa to publish and disseminate more books in indigenous languages? The examples are endless.
As the Minister of Arts and Culture, Dr Pallo Jordan reminded us in his keynote speech at the Opening Ceremony of the IFLA/World Library and Information Congress, the eighth clause of the Freedom Charter says "The doors of learning and culture shall be opened" and continues "All the cultural treasures of mankind shall be open to all, by free exchange of books, ideas and contact with other lands". And where better than @ your library where one can go from local to global through books, internet and other electronic and digital media? Libraries are indeed places which allow people to go beyond themselves; that bridge the world and provide opportunities to access to a world of information and other cultures.
In 2008, the LIASA Mpumalanga Branch will host the national launch of SA Library Week 2008 at Skukuza in the Kruger National Park on Saturday 15th March 2008. The guest of honour is Dr Pallo Jordan, the Minister of Arts and Culture. A parallel children's programme will be run by the Parliamentary Millennium Programme.
Local launch events and celebrations will be taking place across the country.
SA Library Week 2008 will celebrate the founding principles of libraries, that they be the repositories of knowledge for future generations while at the same time making that knowledge accessible to all who need it. This theme will be supported by a range of sponsored posters and promotional materials highlighting reading, information and libraries. These will be distributed to libraries and information services throughout the country to raise awareness and encourage all communities to participate in this important week.
LIASA, through its diverse membership, is driving the process to make S A Library Week a celebration of the country's intellectual and literary heritage. The Week is an important date on the national library calendar when all types of libraries across the country use it as an opportunity to market their services to their users, the broader community, civil society and decision makers. These efforts would hopefully contribute to the understanding of the important role that libraries play in a democratic society by making their services available to the most marginalised in our society, for example, the illiterate, the disabled, people in under-resourced rural areas, etc.
ABOUT LIASA ITSELF
The Library and The Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) is a professional non-profit organization uniting and representing all institutions and people working in libraries and information services in South Africa.
It strives to unite, develop and empower all people in the library and information field into an organization that provides dynamic leadership in transforming, developing and sustaining library and information services for all people in South Africa.
LIASA's membership consists of individuals interested in or working in libraries and information services and institutions or organizations that maintain or are interested in libraries and information services. The Association is divided into 10 branches that reside in each province in the country with two based in Gauteng.
The Association is governed by a Representative Council elected by its members. An Executive Committee consisting of elected officials are mandated by the Council to implement its policies and programmes.
Administration is carried out by a small staff based in the national office in Pretoria.
Further information:
INGRID THOMSON
National Public Relations Officer
P O Box 34181
RHODES GIFT
7707
Tel: 021 6503703
Fax: 021 689 7568
Email: /
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