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Funding and governance of library and information services for visually impaired people: international case studies
Part2:Country studies
South Africa
Numbers and growth
The report on Funding and Governance of Public Libraries [http://picc.org.za/pdf/library_report2.pdf referred to above gave figures on the numbers of public libraries by province, which showed stability or a small increase in most cases:
| EC | FS | GT | KZ | LM | MP | NC | NW | WC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 121 | 136 | 503 | 160 | 37 | 103 | -- | 82 | 317 |
| 2003 | 101 | 137 | 513 | 163 | 39 | 130 | -- | 86 | 307 |
| 2004 | 110 | 137 | 516 | 164 | 43 | 134 | -- | 92 | 307 |
In several cases, increases were due primarily to attempts to give rural areas a better service.
Budgetary data shows increases, but the report notes that these are largely accounted for by inflation. Considered in relation to population and as a percentage of total budgets, library services vary considerably from province to province, though according to the report the per capita comparisons are more reliable than the budgetary percentages because departmental functions vary across provinces.
| Province | Library services; |
Population | Per capita allocation |
Provincial Budget |
% library |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E Cape | 16295 | 6436763 | 2.5 | 31149 | 0.5% |
| Free State | 29024 | 2706775 | 10.4 | 12544 | 2.3% |
| Gauteng | 23116 | 8837178 | 2.6 | 29819 | 0.8% |
| KZN | 40275 | 9426017 | 4.3 | 37807 | 1.1% |
| Limpopo | 12500 | 5273642 | 2.4 | 24295 | 0.5% |
| Mpumalanga | 11000 | 3122990 | 3.5 | 13078 | 0.8% |
| N Cape | 11427 | 822727 | 13.9 | 4429 | 2.6% |
| N West | 18967 | 3669349 | 5.2 | 15240 | 1.2% |
| W Cape | 54381 | 4524335 | 12.0 | 18345 | 3.0% |
In terms of usage data, the report points out that given the very unequal nature of provision, drawing conclusions from usage patterns to make funding decisions could lead to the perpetuation of inequalities.
A report entitled Libraries for All, also by Elisabeth Anderson, calls for a enhanced network of public libraries:
“These libraries might range in scope and size from boxes to buses, from huts to houses, from community centres to town halls, so that every South African is within walking distance of a wide variety of books. Libraries should have the capacity to be open for seven days a week and for long hours so that all readers are accommodated. Geographically the 1200 public libraries in South Africa are unevenly spread. There have been real efforts to develop libraries beyond the confines of the old apartheid structures in white, mostly urban areas, but they have been hampered by a lack of funds. The existing public libraries however, are well placed to become central nodal points for a broad spectrum of widely spread sub-libraries.”