South African Library Week

The national celebration of South Africa Library Week (SALW) is one of the key milestones of the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA). LIASA was formed in 1997 in response to the need to unify a historically divided library profession that was also affected by the former apartheid policies of South Africa. From 2003 LIASA spearheaded a campaign to ensure that a national library week was observed by the entire library and information services (LIS) sector as an opportunity to raise the profile of libraries in South Africa especially amongst previously disadvantaged communities. This campaign has now resulted in South African Library Week (SALW) being recognized by government as a commemorative period on par with Water Week etc. when all types of libraries across the country use it as an opportunity to market their services to their users, the broader community, civil society and decision makers. It is hoped that these efforts would contribute to the understanding of the important role that libraries play in a democratic society, advancing literacy, making the basic human right of freedom of access to information a reality, and inculcating tolerance and respect among all South Africans. During this period LIASA aims to make all South Africans aware that libraries contribute to nation building and improve the quality of life of all who use them. The customary celebration of library week exists in many countries. Such a tradition had been celebrated for some years in South Africa, mainly in the public library sector and spearheaded by the various Provincial Library Services. It was customary to celebrate this during the last two weeks of May. However, it is LIASA's vision to celebrate a truly inclusive Library Week across the entire country, one that will embrace all types of libraries and all kinds of users and potential users. To achieve this, LIASA spearheads all campaigns in its 10 branches in all nine provinces and decides on the annual theme and slogan for the week.