04 Mar 2015

A library attendant at the Masunga public library, Ms Onkabetse Mbulawa has raised a concern over the low number of people who use the library’ services.

Speaking in an interview , Ms Mbulawa said the number of people using the library as well as those taking up its membership is too low. 

She observed that for a village the size of Masunga, it is sad that the library’s membership stood at only 212.

Ms Mbulawa noted that the fact that the library served Masunga and several nearby villages such as Mosojane, Kgari, Letsholathebe, Mulambakwena, Gambule and Vukwi did not help matters as the rate at which people visited the library remained low.

She pointed out that the reason raised for not making full use of the library, in particular by children and working adults was that they often could not find the time to visit the library as they spent most of their time at school and work, respectively.

Admitting that there was some truth in this, she observed that some students got released from school quite late in the afternoon, something that denied them the time to visit the library.

Employees, she said, were similarly constrained by their work hours, hence their failure to use the library.

Another factor affecting the rate at which people, especially children took up the library’s membership was that the secondary schools in Masunga had better-stocked libraries, an advantage the public library did not enjoy.

She noted that for the past six years, no new materials have been bought, resulting in the library offering mostly outdated books.

The non-availability of new materials, she indicated, resulted in the library recording low book loans.

Ms Mbulawa highlighted however the change that has been brought about by the introduction of computers and internet connectivity at the Masunga library, noting that the youth had somehow begun to show some level of interest in visiting the library.

She said some clients had since been visiting the library on a regular basis to access the internet but decried the decline in the number of adults coming to the library to be taught basic computer skills.

Furthermore, she said when computers were first availed last year, 25 adults had registered for basic computer skills but indicated that the figures had dropped to only four at the moment.

Ms Mbulawa said the reason often advanced was that social commitments such as taking care of ploughing fields robbed adults of the opportunity to attend the computer training lessons. 

She nonetheless described as a good example, the arrangement made by the management of the Masunga Day Care Centre for bringing some of their children to the library four times every month.

The children make use of some of the services offered such as storytelling, art and crafts as well as health talks.

She encouraged other schools to follow suit and make arrangements suitable for the students and further hailed the village leadership for supporting the library and helping in efforts to familiarise its services with the residents.

Ms Mbulawa said Dikgosi in particular were putting a lot of effort in selling the library to the residents, as they often make public announcements to sensitise the public on services offered at the library during kgotla meetings.ENDS