Prominent partnerships of Cape Town’s libraries include:

The American Embassy
The Embassy of the United States provides an information service at Central Library in Cape Town. Called USInfo @ Central, this service provides additional print and electronic resources about the United States, and include resources including books, periodicals, DVDs and software.

Carnegie Corporation of New York
The Carnegie Corporation of New York has provided a grant of for the construction of two new libraries in Khayelitsha. These are the Harare Library and the Kuyasa Library. The corporation has also previously provided a grant totaling 2 million USD for the upgrading of Cape Town’s Central Library, which is housed in the Old Drill Hall. The grant has provided funding for the expansion of the library’s collection as well as providing the necessary ICT infrastructure.

IkamvaYouth
The IkamvaYouth TuxLab at the Nazeema Isaacs Library in Khayelitsha is an organisation managed and run by young volunteers, to provide tutoring, career guidance and computer literacy training to grade 11 and 12 learners.

Although the support services are free, learners are encouraged to ‘pay-it forward’ by becoming volunteers for the organisation after completing school.

To learn more about the IkamvaYouth Partnership visit www.ikamvayouth.org

Shuttleworth Foundation
In 2006, the LIS Department received a R12 million grant from the Shuttleworth Foundation, to upgrade Durbanville Library and construct a new library in the nearby community of Fisantekraal.

To learn more about the Shuttleworth Foundation visit www.shuttleworthfoundation.org

Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading (VPUU)
The VPUU has provided the funding for the construction of the new Harare Library in Khayelitsha as well as the future Kuyasa Library, also in Khayelitsha. The VPUU aims to prevent violence in Khayelitsha and consequently to improve the quality of life of the population. Part of this strategy includes the building of “Active Boxes” that include multifunctional community centres (Harare Library will be one such centre), the creation of safety along pedestrian walkways, care taker’s flats and patrolling member rooms.

To learn more about the VPUU visit www.vpuu.org

Friends of the library

Friends of the Library associations bring together readers, book lovers, library users and community spirited people who take a keen interest in and support the aims of their local public library. By becoming a Friend you can make a contribution to your community and the quality of library service it offers.

Friends are a valuable asset to each library, and are able to help in many areas, such as fundraising, bookbinding, shelving, processing donated material, capturing library records, organising and hosting talks and book launches, developing programmes for children and youth, developing and giving literacy classes, and providing internet/e-mail/word processing facilities.
Contact your nearest library to find out more details on how to become a Friend.