September isn’t just about tourism, trees and heritage in the Overstrand; it’s also a time for celebrating Gansbaai Library’s 55th anniversary.
Marking this milestone of over half a century of providing a wealth of books, puzzles, study materials for local learners and access to computers and WiFi for residents were Lavine Fisher, Busisiwe Mtatase, Brucine Dreyer, Asekho Khuzo (Yeboneer) and librarian Edna van der Linde of Overstrand Municipality.
“On this Flashback Friday we remember that Gansbaai was granted municipal status on 1 April 1962,,” Municipal Manager Dean O’Neill related, “and the library opened its doors on 3 September 1969 in a historic limestone house that was one of the oldest buildings in Gansbaai. Then the library had 163 adult members and 112 children, with a first-month 2 131 circulation.”
It soon became evident the library was too small to serve the growing community adequately, prompting the construction of a new facility.
According to O’Neill a new library was therefore constructed with a R746 000 subsidy from the Provincial Library Service, bringing the total cost to R997 408.
“The move was a significant event involving officials working together to get the job done. Old shelves were reused, and staff from the Hermanus region came to help pack and unpack the books over the course of a week. As of September 2024, the Gansbaai Public Library has a membership of 2 670 patrons and circulates more than 54 000 items each year.”
