by Kenneth Walker

In South Africa, the National Library is emblematic of the extraordinary changes taking place in the nation.

Many of the library professionals who are involved with the National Library of South Africa belie the stereotype of librarians as bland and unexcitable. Most exhibit an enthusiasm and passion that is rarely associated with those who are often considered to be staid and steady bookworms. Take Melanie Geustyn, for example, who was recently appointed head of Special Collections at the National Library. "I'm very lucky to work here," she says. "I'm always surprised to discover the things I didn't know we had." Then there's 62-year-old Hafez Haffajee, the librarian at the University of Natal who was also involved in the commissions that established the new National Library. "If I had to live my life over again," he says, "I'd still be a librarian. It's been fun. I come to work every day with no idea what to expect. I might have plans and meetings and then the phone will ring, and it's someone who needs something, so off I go. Being able to make that kind of contribution has meant a really fulfilling and good life. And now, with the National Library, we are at the beginning of something truly wonderful that includes rediscovering a large part of our history."

The development of a unified National Library of South Africa is representative of one of those transformative beginnings that so many point to as indicative of the changes taking place in South Africa since the advent of democracy in 1994 after 50 years of legally entrenched segregation under the apartheid system, which was itself preceded by 400 years of colonialism. Carnegie Corporation of New York has been involved in supporting the National Library because, says Rookaya Bawa, program officer in the Corporation's International Development Program, "In most countries in Africa, the National Library is the backbone of the public library service. Not only does it hold the cultural heritage of a nation but it also provides a gateway for that nation to intersect with the rest of the world. And in the best of all possible worlds, it is a gate that swings both ways--providing outward-bound global access to those who live in a particular country while inviting the rest of the world in, as well."

The National Library of South Africa: Two Become One

Until just before the end of the 20th century there were, in effect, two national libraries in South Africa. One, the South African Library, founded in Cape Town in 1818, is among the oldest libraries on the continent. The other was the State Library, founded in 1887 in Pretoria, South Africa's capital.

The two institutions were amalgamated in November 1999 when they ceased to exist as separate entities and become, instead, the Cape Town and Pretoria campuses of the National Library of South Africa. The Pretoria campus is undergoing a transformation of its own in the form of a new building that will soon be erected, providing much new and badly needed space in the form of thousands of square feet for books, reading rooms and other facilities, along with approximately 1,800 seats for library users, a great improvement over the library's current capacity of 130. It's so small, and demand for its resources is so great, that people often line up in the street outside, waiting to get in.

With its expansion plans in place, the National Library is also determined to collect and rediscover aspects of African literature as well as artifacts and other materials that were often marginalized under the colonial and apartheid governments, including works in indigenous languages. In cooperation with other African countries, South African librarians seem determined to assemble, in the words of one official, "an African collection the likes of which the world has never seen."

South Africans are also working closely with other African governments in attempting to redefine libraries for a continent with rich oral traditions but often lacking the kind of in-depth, detailed and inclusive written histories that are the bedrock of library collections elsewhere. This redefinition would give libraries a central role in meeting the educational, health and developmental needs of African peoples.

One element of this vision involves the implementation of cutting-edge technology that, in addition to facilitating two-way global interactivity, will also help to bring library services to poor and rural areas that have been denied them in the past. This is critical, says Bawa, because "All communities in Africa deserve the best library services we can provide. In that way, we can help to nurture an interest in reading and learning."

The Vision is the Mission

John Tsebe is the man largely responsible for turning the vision of a new national library, with both national and global outreach, into reality. Tsebe, who has Masters' degrees in library science from Syracuse University and in public administration from Harvard University, was appointed the first black South African National Librarian in March 2004.

Observed on almost any typical day, Tsebe moves like a man on a mission. He spends very little time in his office, racing throughout South Africa to boost local librarians and attend professional conferences. In his own country, Tsebe speaks before government committees in support of libraries and library funding but also travels outside of South Africa--including beyond the borders of the African continent--to forge partnerships with other libraries and staff. Some are critical of the travel calendar he keeps, but Tsebe argues that building relationships not only among library professionals but also among and between professional organizations in related fields is integral to the outreach ideals of the National Library. Says Tsebe, "The National Library must lead the way in revitalizing libraries in South Africa because libraries are essential to the nation's socioeconomic development. Our view is that the more people read, the more they become enlightened, the more employable they are and the more jobs they can create."

Tsebe acknowledges the difficulty of aiming so high in terms of what libraries can achieve, but he says, "If we succeed in South Africa, we can pave the way to encourage other African countries to follow the same path. What we want is to move towards being the most advanced library on the continent."

Tsebe has spent much energy in his first year at the helm trying to provide leadership to a public library system in South Africa that has experienced the tug and pull of a nation that, more than a decade after the transition from apartheid to democracy, is transforming its culture, politics and institutions while at the same time trying to apportion its resources in the context of needs that include improvement and equitable access to vital services such as education, health care, and even water and sewage. Given those priorities, libraries don't always come out on top. In fact, says National Library board chairperson Professor Rocky Ralebipi-Simela, "Today, only a fraction of the population even has access to libraries," adding that many of the new black officials in South Africa's provinces, which are responsible for their local libraries, are skeptical of the need. "When I go to provincial ministers and lobby for libraries," she says, "they tell me, «You are the only person asking for libraries. Everybody else wants more schools or sports facilities.'"

Next page: One goal of the National Library of South Africa is to help build a constituency for libraries that, while rooted in popular support, also reaches into the policy realm.

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