Is it our libraries or is it the culture?

Johannesburg - The activity in some libraries across Gauteng paints a bleak picture of the reading culture. They are an essential resource for communities to stay informed and provide services.

They are buildings regularly used by students, pensioners, working professionals, organisations and residents for various means. They are enriched centres of creation, learning and community.

In the City of Johannesburg’s commemoration of South Africa Library Week from 14 to 20 March, the municipality said in a press release that they would repurpose libraries across the city to reflect the needed services by community members.

Access to online resources, electronic devices and spaces for educational activities were needs highlighted by South Africans.

A 2020 study by Director Mamphokhu Khuluvhe for the Department of Higher Education and Training found that the South African adult illiteracy rate was 10%. It is an improvement of 2.1% from the 2019 rate. However, it revealed that a total of 3.7 million adults in South Africa were illiterate.

Though many across the country have adapted to provide electronic and internet services, their primary function of supplying books is no longer prominent. Why? South Africans (government and residents) are not promoting recreational reading as much as they promote online education and advanced literacy technology.

“There is a dying culture of recreational reading. I see more people coming here to use the library for work and school, but not always to read for fun,” said Sipho Gum, an employee of Germiston Library.

Gum said that while local government have done their part in maintaining the infrastructure, he felt both government and black communities were doing very little to promote recreational reading to young children. He said most young children and students who enter operate the electronic resources, charge their phones or do work.

“The people that do recreational reading in our library are mostly older white people, so there is also this lack of promoting the culture and importance of reading among black people. But I think it’s mainly because there are not enough vernacular books on the shelves for us to read,” Gum said.

“If we had access to, or received more books in our languages and offered them to schoolchildren and the black community, then maybe we’ll see more young children reading and improving their reading skills.”

The same cannot be said for a library in Lehae, South of Johannesburg. Set to open in April 2022, excited residents became enraged when the date passed and the library’s door remained closed. Now it’s surrounded by overgrown grass, weeds and no signage or full-time security.

One of the community leaders from Lehae Phase 1, Thembani Baloyi, said that the closed doors are a dispiriting view for residents who wish to visit the building.

“When the JDA (Johannesburg Development Agency) told us that they were building a library in 2013 for 2018, we were happy as a community because it meant we had closer access to books for all age groups.

“Now we are watching a back and forth between the council and the JDA, waiting for them to open it so we can use it. Instead of the library helping us push reading among members, the new books are gathering dust in places. It’s not fair to the community,” Baloyi said.

The culture of reading in South Africa has been a problem that organisations, governments and individuals have tried to resolve for many years. Nal’ibali, Cadbury’s Homegrown initiative, and mobile libraries are ways South Africans have utilised to get more people back into the world of reading.

Public events such as the Kingsmead Book Fair, the Jozi Book Fair and the South African Book Fair are transformative, inclusive and diverse events that have continued to encourage the culture of reading and writing among South Africans.

Public and private initiatives have not only tried to address reading literacy but also access to reading materials. Libraries are considered havens for reading fans priced out in bookstores.

“It’s not enough to promote reading alone. We have to get much more local writers and books in our home languages that I know will encourage the youth to fill up libraries,” said Gum.