Top office for libraries manager
Mossel Bay municipal library services manager William Clayton has been appointed to serve on the National Council for Library and Information Services.
This is an office Clayton will hold until December 2022.
On Clayton's appointment, the national Minister of Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, said: "I believe you will make a significant contribution to the issues that need to be addressed by the council."
Clayton is the manager of all the libraries in the greater Mossel Bay area. He told the Mossel Bay Advertiser: "I was pleasantly surprised at the appointment. The municipality nominated me.
"The national council considers all the nominations and then picks the people with expertise. The main purpose of the council is to advise the Department of Arts, Culture and Sport; the national minister of Basic Education; and the national minister of Higher Education on aspects of library and information services. We tackle socio-economic factors that hamper service delivery by libraries and information services. We ask: where can libraries improve services in various areas."
The D'Almeida Library, which is part of the Mossel Bay municipal library stable, won a prestigious Western Cape award in 2017: Best Public Library - Children's Services. The library won the award for its focus on children aged five to 12 which includes programmes such as read out loud competitions, library chess tournaments, Danny Cat road safety teachings, fire safety in cooperation with Mossel Bay Fire and Disaster Management Services, Cruelty against animals presented by the SPCA and the isiXhosa Outreach and Library Awareness project, raising library awareness in children’s mother tongue. Clayton said he felt his experience in local government and the success of the D'Almeida Library had contributed to his appointment to the national council.
Mossel Bay Municipality director of community services, Elize Nel, told the Mossel Bay Advertiser: "The Mossel Bay Municipality is proud of the appointment of Mr Clayton to the Libraries National Council. This is appropriate recognition for his years of dedicated service and his unique knowledge and experience that will now be of great use not only to the Mossel Bay community but to librarianship in South Africa."