Why the Joburg City Library is still closed

The partial reopening of the Joburg City Library has been delayed yet again.

The building was closed in 2020 because of the Covid lockdowns. Despite most pandemic restrictions being lifted in 2021, the city authorities kept the library closed, citing structural problems such as roof leaks.

The 90-year-old library was expected to be partially reopened this month, but that hasn’t happened.

The Joburg Development Agency (JDA), which is mainly responsible for the upkeep of the library, has blamed the delay on weak water pressure in the inner city.

The Joburg City Library is a repository for about 1.5-million items, including 700,000 books, DVDs, CDs, sheet music and periodicals, many of these invaluable to researchers, students and pupils. It is also an ideal place for study and research for thousands of pupils living in the inner city who have few resources and no quiet retreat to work in.

“The library houses one of the greatest repositories of Africana on the continent, as well as documents you won’t find anywhere else,” former Wits University economic history professor Kathy Munro told the Financial Times.

The partial reopening would have allowed the public, for the first time in years, access to the library’s ground floor and the children’s reading room. 

That has now been pushed back to “quarter one of 2025”, the JDA says in a statement.

I think the protest was really important, because until then nobody seemed to notice that the library was a service and that we needed it

—  Flo Bird

It says a full opening is expected in the second quarter (April to June). The statement says the reason for the delay is the installation of two water tanks and pumps that are needed to provide greater water pressure in the event of a fire.

“This pressurised system is essential for maintaining safety standards and is [set] for completion early March”, the statement says. 

David Fleminger, chair of the Joburg Heritage Foundation (JHF), says that at first the JDA had wanted to install a single tank, but his organisation had pushed for two, to retain the aesthetic of the building, which was designed in the 19th-century Italianate style. 

“The proposal that was initially floated was to build one big water tank on one side of the building,” he says. “Our engineers and architects came back and said it would be very unsightly. It would mess with a façade. It would cover the first floor and just look terrible. So the compromise was to build two smaller water tanks on either side for symmetry.”

The two organisations are now working together on the project — after months of fighting that culminated in a protest on the library steps. 

The JHF, together with the Joburg Crisis Alliance, led the protest on May 18 last year, calling for the immediate reopening of the library. 

After the discovery of structural defects in 2021, refurbishment of the building began, but this was slowed by the pandemic, according to city authorities. Later more problems were identified, which the JDA said “altered the initial scope of work significantly”. Staff from the library were redeployed to other libraries to ensure their safety, the authorities said.

The JHF questioned why the entire library had to be closed during this period.

In recent months the relationship between the two entities has improved, says Fleminger. “We are gratified that the city has actually invited us to attend regular working group sessions. [The officials have] been very open to our comments. They’ve been very collaborative.”

JHF founder Flo Bird says last year’s protest was necessary for speeding things along. “I think the protest was really important, because until then nobody seemed to notice that the library was a service and that we needed it. Without the protest, the city wouldn’t have done anything,” she says.

Other work is continuing at the library. A gas suppression system is being installed that will also provide fire protection, as are fire doors. These installations are due to be completed by the end of February.