Umbilo resident Elizabeth Bell went home disappointed after trying to visit the Umbilo Library on Wednesday afternoon. The library has been closed - allegedly due to a rental dispute between the eThekwini Municipality and its landlord, which leases the property at the Queensmead Mall. Picture: Lyse Comins Umbilo resident Elizabeth Bell went home disappointed after trying to visit the Umbilo Library on Wednesday afternoon. The library has been closed - allegedly due to a rental dispute between the eThekwini Municipality and its landlord, which leases the property at the Queensmead Mall. Picture: Lyse Comins
Durban - Umbilo and Glenwood residents are up in arms over the closure of their local library - allegedly due to a rental dispute with the eThekwini Municipality’s landlord.
Carol Stone of Umbilo said she was shocked when she went to return her books to the library last week to find the door closed and the library shut, with a sign up advising users that “the library is closed until further notice”, and asking members not to dump their books in an already full drop box posted outside the library.
The library is located inside Queensmead Mall, in Umbilo.
“The landlord has locked and chained the door of the library, and people are going up and down wanting to get their books returned. They have been dumping the books outside there and the centre manager has been collecting them and keeping them safe in her office,” she said.
However, Stone, who has used the library for the past 30 years, said she didn’t know what to do with her library books, and was concerned about getting a huge fine.
“I don’t want to hand them in to the supervisor (centre manager) because what if they get lost and they can’t find the books, and then I get a R5 000 fine. At least the library should have had someone at the door - books are everywhere, and the centre manager is now a librarian,” she said.
She added that many residents in the area were elderly or students, including those from the nearby UKZN Nelson Mandela Medical School, and did not have transport to travel to the CBD or to Musgrave to visit a library.
“I just wonder if it is allowed for a landlord to do that and just to shut them out. I understand he has been very patient, waiting for ten months,” she said.
Stone said she understood the city allegedly had not paid rent for the past ten months.
When the Daily News visited the library Thursday it was still closed and the door chained, but there were no books in the drop box.
A local resident, Elizabeth Bell, arrived to check whether the library had re-opened, but went home disappointed.
eThekwini Municipality spokeswoman Tozi Mthethwa said the library was temporarily closed while the city followed “necessary supply chain management processes to lease the premises”.
She did not respond to questions regarding the allegation that rent had not been paid for ten months.
“Outstanding documentation from the landlord had to be submitted for the city to finalise its supply chain management processes. There was no eviction order. We apologise to all library users for the inconvenience,” she said.
Mthethwa said library users could either leave their books in the drop slot outside Umbilo Library or return them to Musgrave Library or any other conveniently located municipal library.
“Fines incurred during this period will be waived,” she said.
Daily News