A history of Johannesburg City Library

The Johannesburg City Library, established in 1935, is not only an impressive piece of architecture but also the home of more than 1.5 million books and has more than 250 000 members.

Within the library, there are several sections including the Central Reference Library, Children’s Library, Michaelis Art Library, Multimedia Library, Music Library, Harold Strange Library of African Studies and the Young Adults Reference Library.

Although the library was opened in 1935, it was only in 1974 that it opened its doors to all races. In 2009, the library closed its doors for three years for the duration of a major renovation in which the building was converted to a three-storey library with additional space for its growing collection of books, reading areas and computers.

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The Harold Strange Library of African Studies houses major collections of Africana, concentrating on material south of the Zambezi River. The collection includes material on every conceivable aspect of southern African social and political history and comprises manuscripts, private papers, books, periodicals, pamphlets, maps, newspapers, newspaper cuttings and photographs.

You will also find a history of the Witwatersrand and especially Joburg. For the extreme history fans, original maps of Africa from the 15th to 20th centuries are available for your perusal (at the librarian’s discretion, of course).

Another noteworthy collection is the Reference Collection with materials ranging from practical handbooks to advanced scientific treatises. More than 1 million items are housed in the Reference Collection and its underground stacks of 40km of shelving, including back issues of more than 6 000 journal titles and about 1 500 current journal titles. You will find government publications, Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed companies’ annual reports, British, ISO and South African standards, statistics reports and a map collection. Even original newspapers printed in the late 19th century are all available.

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There is lots to see at the Johannesburg City Library, open to the public Monday to Friday between 10am and 5pm, and on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm.

Joining a library

All residents are welcome to join their local library. You need to present your identity book, with proof of residence. Children will also need to show their birth certificates.

Cards will be issued by the libraries. Those applying for the first time will have to wait for five working days for their documents to be processed.

For those wishing to take four or fewer books at any one time, membership is free.

For those wanting to take more than four books, it will cost R30 per year for a membership.

Edited by Allan Robertson