Mega-library for students on EL-based campuses to open soon
A MEGA-LIBRARY costing R200million for thousands of Eastern Cape students from three universities with campuses in East London is on track to open its doors in March/April.
That is if all quality assurances,, including safety standards, receive the stamp of approval from inspectors.
The four-storey building situated at the intersection of Oxford and Church streets, and through to Hill Street in the vicinity of the East London Magistrate’s Court, will cater for students from Fort Hare University, Walter Sisulu University and the University of South Africa (Unisa).
The library will house a multimedia centre, book collections, eresources and administrative offices.
Fort Hare spokesman Khotso Moabi said the wheelchair-friendly building was getting ready for use. “I can confirm that the University of Fort Hare is targeting March/April to open the collaborative library with its sister Universities WSU and Unisa together with the Department of Higher Education.”
The Daily Dispatch was shown the building yesterday. It has an undercover parking lot in the basement, and lifts to accommodate all students, especially disabled library users.
The facility will cater for 18 000 students and have the capacity to seat at least 2 500 students.
The studying cubicles are colour coded according to the official colours of each university. Fort Hare’s blue dominates the study cubicles on the first floor, the second floor has Unisa’s red seats while WSU’s grey dominates the third floor.
Senior managers of the ubermodern library will be based on the fourth floor, which will enable them to have access to a braai area where they will also be able to enjoy a picturesque view of the East London port.
Senior safety officer on site Roberto Rensberg said contractors were busy with finishing touches, including installing air conditioning on some of the floors, tiling and putting up shelves for the muchneeded books.
“Next week we are expecting inspectors to assess the air-conditioning system, and a week later the safety of the building will also be assessed, including the lifts. Once everything meets the required standards, we will safely say the building is ready for use,” said Rensberg.
Each university will second staff to administer and manage its collections and resources, while the entire administration of the structure would be the responsibility of Fort Hare’s facilities department.
The Dispatch first reported on the construction of the library two years ago. Fort Hare students have until now had to make do with their current library, which has limited material, while WSU and Unisa students rely on the Buffalo City libraries based in Vincent and the city centre, both of which have limited academic material.
The massive project is being funded by government, but all three universities have also contributed portions of the funds.
Moabi said Unisa contributed R50-million, Fort Hare R30-million and WSU R20-million, with the other R100-million from the higher education department.