New library opens in Groendal

The community of Groendal in Franschhoek celebrated the opening of a new state of the art library on 7 September 2018. The director of the Western Cape Library Service, Ms Cecilia Sani, officially opened library.

The opening of the library forms part of a two-year partnership between the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport (DCAS) and Stellenbosch Municipality. DCAS contributed R7 million towards the building of the new library to replace the previous container library.

It provides the community with access to approximately 8000 books. There are also six computers with free internet access for public use. It has a library hall for community use and an early childhood centre section aimed at crèches and parents of toddlers. Services for the visually impaired are also provided for through a partnership between DCAS and the South African Library for the Blind.

Ms Sani welcomed everyone to the opening of the library. “I hope and believe that this library will provide a safe environment for the children of the community to learn and complete their tasks and that it will become an information centre for members of the community to make use of, whether it is the books or the computers that provide library users with free access to the internet” she said.

The green building is one of the first libraries to take water saving measures into account and is fitted with solar panels on the roof and water tanks to collect rain water.

DCAS is committed to provide free, equitable and accessible library services to the Western Cape Communities. Let us create well-informed, literate communities who are able to express themselves freely. BETTER TOGETHER.