SALW starts on 20 March and runs until 25 March.

The theme this year is ‘Libraries Telling Powerful Stories’ and aims to raise awareness around libraries and their importance in communities.

To kick off the celebrations, the City’s Library and Information Services will once again have their annual departmental march on Friday, 17 March 2023. 

The march will start at 09:30 at the Central Library in Darling Street.  

‘We are taking libraries to the streets and it’s not only a fun reminder of the importance of books, but it also creates awareness of the huge educational and recreational resources that our libraries are. They remain among the most established, well-visited and loved community spaces in our city. SALW and the march are aimed at increasing awareness of what is available to the public in their communities.

‘It is an opportunity for libraries to engage with people within their communities, including leaders, musicians, politicians, authors, teachers and professionals to unearth the powerful stories about the role that public libraries and librarians played in their lives,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Patricia van der Ross.

At the same time, patrons are encouraged to return outstanding items as SALW will also coincide with a fine free week.

‘Not returning books or other material not only impacts the library and our service financially, but robs other patrons of enjoying them. Libraries are a wonderful source of information and leisure, but unreturned items means that pleasure is lost to many,’ said Councillor Van der Ross.

In 2020, more than 40 000 items were lost to the value of over R4 million; in 2021 this figure was more than 22 000 items valued at R2,9 million.

‘We hope our communities will hear the call to return overdue material and that we can significantly decrease these losses during Fine Free Week,’ said Councillor Van der Ross.

The top 10 outstanding books are: 

Five titles in the top 10 are part of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney.  

‘It’s clear that these books are extremely popular, but there are 101 of them that have not been returned. If you have read them a few times, please bring them back. I am sure they’re enjoyable, but now we need to share this enjoyment with other patrons. Our libraries have new books, so you could be missing out by not bringing the old ones back. Come to the library to find a new adventure,’ added Councillor Van der Ross.

Part of the SALW celebrations are four integrated events with sister departments in the Directorate, including Recreation & Parks, City Health and Social Development & Early Childhood Development. 

These four events are:

Area North: 20 March at Fisantekraal Library

Area South: 22 March at Southfield/Tokai Centre

Area Central: 23 March at Goodwood Civic Centre

Area East: 24 March at Khayelitsha Library

To find out what is happening at your library during this week, see: https://bit.ly/3ZoIpnS.