Minister Marais delivers keynote address at annual WC Library Service seminar

The Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport (DCAS) hosted the annual Library Services Seminar on Wednesday, 15 September to discuss issues pertaining to Conditional and Municipal Replacement Funding Grants. This annual seminar serves to enhance the intergovenmental relations between national, provincial and local government in which the broadplans for the 2021/22 financial year will be discussed. 

During the keynote address Minister Anroux Marais said, “As the Western Cape Government safely moves forward with innovative collaborations, we are happy to officially welcome representatives from the national Department of Sports, Arts and Culture (DSAC), Provincial Treasury, the Department of the Premier, the South African Library for the Blind, the I-Can Learn Project through the Department of Economic Department and Tourism as well as representatives from the 25 Western Cape municipalities. 

We are indeed grateful to each provincial library service official who goes the extra mile with great passion and dedication to enable a well-functioning directorate to afford us the largest public library service network nationally and also in Africa, which counts for more than 20% of all public libraries in the nine provinces and holds the highest library membership and by far the highest book circulation figures of all provinces”. 

Through the 2021 annual Library Services Seminar, it is hoped that attendees will be capacitated on various aspects of funding sources including planning, implementation and reporting.  The highlight of the seminar this year is the cheque handover to the Theewaterskloof Municipality as they will be receiving R800 000 for the modular in the Bereaville Library. The Metro Library Grant was also allocated R5.4 million, the Conditional Grant: just over R188 million and the Municipal Replacement Funding at just under R85.1 million in support of upgrades, ICT equipment, furniture, staffing and operational and capital projects.

We encourage all stakeholders to make full use of the funds made available, to better understand its application process and how to optimally appropriate the funds in a sustainable manner to deliver on our mandate to all who call the Western Cape home. 

Click here to view the programme currently underway.