City of Joburg Mayor, Dada Morero, has committed R50 million towards the restoration of the Joburg Art Gallery (JAG) archives.
This is on top of another R60 million that the city has spent towards the restoration of the City Library set for a partial re-opening next month.
Built over 100 years ago, the Johannesburg Art Gallery is the oldest museum of its kind in the city, and boasts a collection of over 10 000 artworks.
In addition to robust historical and Southern African cultural collections, the ‘JAG’ as it is affectionately known, also houses a growing contemporary collection, which has been facing a myriad of challenges of late.
Morero revealed this during his address to the media following his sight visit to the library currently under renovation on Thursday.
Following years of delays and other challenges, the mayor committed to a two-phased re-opening of one of Africa’s biggest public libraries with the first phase, set to begin as early as next month, while the second phase will be completed in June.
The first phase of the library will be the reopening of the children’s site, while the second phase will be dedicated to the adults’ side of the building.
“The end of June should be the official opening of a fully functional library. But as a city, we have committed to ensuring that this library is re-opened for its first phase by February,” he said.
On the amount spent in ensuring a new and digitally savvy library, the mayor indicated that the city has spent nearly R60 million towards ensuring that the space meets the desired standards.
“R60 million has been spent in the restoration of the library. You will realise that a lot of buildings built in the 40s, 50s, and 60s require compliance with current standards. and we had to refit and reconfigure these to meet these standards. That is why we are building two tankers to meet some of the heritage-handling issues,” he stated.
Speaking on some of the digital technology infrastructure, Morero and the Director of Library and Information Services (LIS), Nobuntu Mpendulo, indicated that the library, like many other libraries being refurbished by the city, will be kitted with digital technology to ensure they appeal to both young and older citizens of the city.
“We have turned our libraries into multi-purpose spaces to bring more activities, including food stores and other resources to improve the look and feel of our libraries. We understand that some people still love to read printed books while a younger generation wants to use their phones as virtual libraries.
“We are moving towards a digital direction which will make our libraries hybrid spaces of learning and teaching, including coding and other skills,” she said.
The mayor revealed that to ensure a digital-driven space, the city has partnered with the likes of Google, Microsoft, and other tech companies.
“The city has partnered with Microsoft and Google as libraries these days should not only be about books but must connect residents to digital technology. We are also partnering with institutions of higher learning to bridge the gap in illiteracy,” he stated.
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