Swellendam to be empowered with state-of-the-art brand-new library

Together with Mayor Nicholas Myburgh, Municipal Manager: Mr. Anton Groenewald, councilors and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport Library Service officials, Minister Anroux Marais, yesterday, officiated the sod turning ceremony signifying, the start of construction of the much-anticipated library to be built in Swellendam.

To be constructed at a cost of R12 million, the brand new 889 square meters library will have a community hall, as well as computer room included.

The current Swellendam public library is 182 years old, one of the oldest in the country. The new library will replace the current library which is far too small to serve the growing community.

To ease access, the location of the new library is next to a school and on the main pedestrian artery to the town centre.

In her address Minister Marais highlighted that library services form an important part of the Department’s outreach to educate and connect communities. Minister Marais said, “As our libraries serve their communities as the source of information and opportunity, it is indeed pivotal to provide access to and increase the number of facilities in the province, particularly as we are now moving into a new virtual norm”.

We thank our Library Services and the municipality for their exceptional collaborative work done in service of Swellendam and the greater Overberg district in bringing into fruition a brand-new state of the art public library. We trust the new library will become the innovative information hub of the area, creating the enabling environment needed to live healthier lifestyles in safe environments, more prepared for tomorrow’s economy.