THE Allanridge Library again became the target of vandalism. Unfortunately, this time, it may not be refurbished again.
Ironically this library was named after a fierce contester for liberty, Reverend Allan Hendrickse. A man who was known for his wisdom and for the love of books.
The official opening was on 6 November 1984 and the library then had more than 18 000 books, with librarians Sophie van Heerden and Elizabeth Muller taking charge of the facility.
In the book Uitenhage The Garden Town – 200, it states that, “The attractive facility which had all the necessary equipment and services pulled in thousands of new members. The circulation of books and use of the library grew by leaps and bounds.”
During 1985 the Allanridge Library faced its first onslaught. It was petrol bombed. Despite extensive smoke damage, not a single book was lost. It took four months to restore the building.
A library is seen as a beacon of cultural enlightenment, of learning and accumulation of wisdom of never-finished know-ledge.
But enlightenment, learning and doing your part in building a better community obviously are of no value to those who vandalised the community of Kamesh’s beacon of liberty, the Allanridge Library.
