Vandals have struck again, forcing the temporary closure of Bellville Library once more.
The beleagured library, which is often touted by the City of Cape Town as one of its flagship libraries, has been closed multiple times in the past three years.
The latest closure comes after vandals left the ventilation system “damaged beyond repair,” says the City’s Mayco member for community services and health, Patricia van der Ross.
This library was closed for four months for the same reason early in 2021.
Air flow
Van der Ross says the library’s air conditioning system is industrialised and there are no other natural means for the facility to obtain air flow, including oxygen.
“The specialised system also regulates the temperature in the building. However, repeated acts of vandalism have damaged the system to the extent that it cannot function without repairs.
“This is a most unfortunate situation, but we simply cannot expect staff and patrons to endure the extreme heat affecting the building,” says Van der Ross. “While the library closed entirely during the first instance that the ventilation system was damaged; this time round, systems have been put in place to ensure that patrons can still access library materials, similar to the operational approach that was taken when libraries started reinstating services after the pandemic.”
Vandalism is stretching libraries to the limit, she explains. “Costs linked to vandalism and theft, just since July (2022), will surpass the R2 million mark by the end of this year. This includes the R1 million we’ll spend on security.”
At least 17 libraries were targeted last year, including Bellville-South, which saw vandals stealing copper wires from the caged air conditioner stolen and cables from the Wi-Fi antenna cut.
Previous incidents
In 2021 Bellville Library had 11 000 regular patrons, who circulated around 389 955 items per year.
Above and beyond being closed for repairs to the air conditioning, the library was also closed late last year for parts of it ceiling to be replaced. It also faced a devastating fire in July 2020, which led to months of closures.
Limited services
The City does not have an expected finish date. “Unfortunately there are no firm time frames at the moment, but we will endeavour to complete the repairs as soon as possible, so that library operations can resume as normal.”
As of today library will provide limited services, which include:
- Drop and collect;
- Telephone and email renewals;
- Inter library loans;
- Holds and
- Hall bookings.
These services will be available from Mondays to Fridays from 09:00 to 16:30 and on Saturdays from 09:00 to 13:00.
Anonymous tip-offs are welcomed. Call 0800 11 00 77 or the police.
