Cape Town: South African National Library Week will be observed in the town from March 17 to 23, 2025. During this time, the citizens can celebrate the role of libraries in the communities. It is a great chance for the borrowers to bring back the 40,112 overdue library items, with no penalties and no questions asked.
The Library and Information Service of the City of Cape Town is inviting all residents to celebrate South African Library Week 2025, that will feature a golden opportunity to return overdue items during Fine Free Week.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Community Services and Health – Councillor Francine Higham said that they think of this as a library amnesty week. Where, no questions asked and no penalties applied.
“We simply would like the more than 40,000 missing items back in circulation where they can benefit everyone in the community,” stated Higham.
Reportedly, the missing items, that values over R4.6 million includes much-needed children’s book and study guides.
According to Francine Higham, every returned book means that another child gets to experience that story and another student can prepare properly for exams. Returning these materials is not about avoiding fines, it is about strengthening the community resources.
“We encourage all residents to help these outstanding books, CDs, DVDs and magazines to find their way home,” added Councillor Higham.
Out of all, ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ by Jeff Kinney dominates the most wanted list for another year with 30 copies of ‘Wrecking Ball’, alone waiting to find their way home. The outstanding material can be returned at any of the 102 libraries of the city until March 23, 2025.
The 2025 edition of the event follows the theme ‘Libraries for Sustainable Communities’ that highlights how libraries serve as shared neighbourhood resources that benefit everyone. Throughout whole week, the libraries across the city will host the upcycling workshops that will teach creative reuse of materials.
It will also observe Panel Discussions on building greener neighbourhoods, along with South African children’s literature story times and will host Digital Literacy sessions for all ages.
Library and Information Services Department kicked off the week by hosting its annual SALW Road March in the city centre on Friday, March 14, 2025.
Considering this, Councillor Francine Higham said that the libraries are the ultimate example of a sustainable community resource. One book can educate and entertain hundreds of people over its lifetime, only if it is available on their shelves.
Notably, City of Cape Town has 102 libraries across the metropole with a staff complement of 894. The library membership has 242,144 active members recorded as of 28 Feb 2025, with 3,242,893 items circulated from 1 Jul 2024 to 28 Feb 2025 across the library network.