As many of you know, here at Library & Information Services, we are incredibly fortunate to have a team of dedicated and passionate individuals. And recently, one such individual became a shining example of what can be achieved through hard work, dedication and a genuine love for what you do. We are absolutely delighted to announce that our very own Linda Ntaka from Library and Information Services has been named the LIASA UKS Librarian of the Year 2025! This is an extraordinary achievement awarded annually at the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) conference, and it celebrates truly outstanding leadership and excellence within our profession.
Each year, librarians from across our beautiful country are nominated for this prestigious accolade and to see Linda’s name selected is a moment of immense pride for all of us. It’s a testament to the remarkable contributions she’s made to the field. Linda’s career has been marked by a tireless commitment to advancing library services.
From her impactful tenure as LIASA National Public Relations Officer (2020-2023) to her dynamic leadership as Area East Sub-Area Head overseeing nine libraries, Linda has consistently demonstrated a passion for making a difference. She is also a fervent advocate for creating welcoming and inclusive spaces for everyone, continuing to champion child-friendly access and ensuring our libraries remain tariff-free and fine-free.
Colleagues often affectionately describe her as a “human dynamo,” and I couldn’t agree more. Her boundless energy and unwavering professionalism have significantly elevated public library services not just here in Cape Town, but across the country. This award isn’t just a personal triumph for Linda, it’s a reflection of the high standards and innovative spirit we cultivate in the City’s Library & Information Services department. We are incredibly proud of her success and the positive impact it signifies for the library profession as a whole.
Linda, on behalf of us all, a heartfelt congratulations! Your inspiring leadership continues to motivate us all to dream big and aim high!
Athlone Library is proud to announce that we were awarded 2nd place for “Public Libraryof the Year” at the Western Cape Cultural Affairs Awards 2025. This prestigious event celebrates excellence in arts, culture, and heritage across the province, recognising individuals and organisations that make a meaningful impact in their communities.
Athlone Public Library recognized as a finalist for Public Library of the Year in the 2025 Cultural Awards by the Western Cape Government.
Receiving this award is a significant milestone for Athlone Library. It reflects the hard work, dedication, and commitment of our library team, who continuously strive to deliver quality services and create a welcoming space for all community members.
This recognition would not have been possible without the collective effort of the AthloneLibrary staff. Their passion for promoting literacy, fostering community engagement, and enhancing access to information continues to set our library apart.
We extend heartfelt gratitude to our patrons and community. Their ongoing support, participation, and engagement are at the heart of everything we do. This award is not just for the library team — it belongs to the entire Athlone community.
The awards ceremony was beautifully hosted, with live performances that added a vibrantand festive atmosphere to the evening. Attendees enjoyed an inspiring programme, surrounded by representatives from libraries, cultural institutions, and creative communities across the Western Cape.
This achievement motivates us to continue striving for excellence and to keep expanding the role of Athlone Library as a hub of knowledge, culture, and community connection.
Athlone Public Library recognized as a finalist for Public Library of the Year in the 2025 Cultural Awards by the Western Cape Government.
Celebrating teamwork and achievement at Athlone Library! The staff proudly showcase their latest recognition, reflecting dedication and commitment to serving the community.
Celebrating teamwork and achievement at Athlone Library! The staff proudly showcase their latest recognition, reflecting dedication and commitment to serving the community.
Adriaanse Library’s Movember Men initiative, originally launched in 2019 as a small boys’ group, has since grown into a powerful month-long programme dedicated to uplifting and empowering men of all ages. Each year, the library tackles socio-economic challenges faced by men in the community, while promoting literacy and showing how reading can positively influence daily life.
This year’s Movember Men 2025 programme started on a high note with guest speaker Shane Jonas, a bodybuilder and fitness trainer. He shared how fitness transformed his life, reminding the audience that wellness is not only about aesthetics but about discipline, balance and long-term success. His message was supported by library resources, from nutrition guides to exercise books, helping attendees see how reading can support a healthy lifestyle. The men were inspired to learn that fitness can be fun, fulfilling and financially rewarding.
Our second speaker, Tyron Scholtz, a business consultant, delivered a powerful session on DigiPreneurship. He encouraged the men to value themselves before money and demonstrated how digital entrepreneurship can open new doors. Many were moved to discover that with a single book, a cellphone and free library resources, one can start generating passive income and create real opportunities. His message ignited hope and excitement, especially among the youth.
To close Movember Men with a bang, the library hosted a membership drive featuring stance cars and modified show vehicles. The aim was to attract both young and older men by showing that there is more to life than drugs, alcohol and gangsterism. Attendees explored library materials that support automotive interests—from mechanical skills to engineering concepts—highlighting how the library can help fuel positive passions.
Throughout the month, Movember Men created a safe space at the library where men could share ideas, speak openly, learn from one another and build a sense of brotherhood. The programme reminded everyone that growth is possible when a community stands together. Adriaanse Library looks forward to expanding this movement even further in the coming years, continuing to inspire, empower and equip the men of our community.
Lucien Ruiters and Ayanda Rawutini both chose to build their futures in public libraries, but their journeys show that learning far beyond the shelves can transform how a person leads and serves.
At Hanover Park Library, Lucien is a Senior Librarian who wanted to understand more than books and buildings. He wanted to understand how government works, how decisions are made and how public resources can be used wisely. That desire led him to achieving a Post-Graduate Diploma in Public Management.
The studies did more than deepen his knowledge of public sector governance, they changed the way he thought about leadership. One of his biggest lessons was simple but demanding – effective leadership begins with self-management. Before you can guide a team or a community, you must work on your own discipline, self-awareness and use of time and resource.
The man in the middle (And the moment): Lucien Ruiters, Senior Librarian at Hanover Park Library, is flanked by City Manager Lungelo Mbandezayo on his left, and Executive Director for Community Services & Health, Zukiswa Mandlana, on his right, along with members of the delegation, as they celebrate his City Manager award.
Living out that lesson was not easy. For almost 2 years, Lucien worked through long modules that ran across 14 to 16 weeks at a time. He received study leave from the department which helped him keep a productive rhythm, but there were still evenings and holidays where his laptop stayed open while others rested.
Through this, his wife became his strongest support. There were seasons where the balance in their home was not fifty fifty. Sometimes it felt closer to twenty eighty, with her carrying more of the load so that he could complete his studies. That experience humbled him and gave him a new respect for what real support looks like. It also shaped the way he supports his own team.
Today, Lucien uses his public management skills to engage staff and residents more meaningfully, to plan strategically and to think about the future of the library in a world that can change very quickly, as the Covid period showed. For him, lifelong learning is one of the ways libraries remain resilient and ready.
Across the city, Ayanda Rawutini carries a different kind of responsibility. As Sub Area Head 7, he oversees 8 libraries. Moses Mabhida, Khayelitsha, Mfuleni, Masakhane, Kulani, Nazeema Isaacs, Kuyasa and Harare. His daily work is filled with people and with the relationships that hold teams together.
Over many years, Ayanda saw how easily employment relationships can be damaged. Misunderstandings, unfair treatment, poor decisions and serious misconduct, whether from staff or line managers, all leave a mark. Instead of accepting this as normal, he chose to study it. He enrolled for a Post-Graduate Diploma in Labour Law at the University of the Western Cape.
Ayanda Rawutini, Sub Area Head 7, pictured after receiving his Post-Graduate Diploma in Labour Law from the University of the Western Cape.
Through his studies he came to see the workplace as a shared responsibility. Employers, represented by management, and employees, represented by unions, cannot exist without one another. They are interdependent, not natural enemies. The Labour Relations Act, which he explored in depth, exists to protect this relationship and to manage conflict in a structured and fair way.
This understanding now guides his leadership. With his new knowledge, Ayanda can support his Librarians in Charge when they deal with staff matters as well as advise colleagues in other libraries and departments. Balancing this journey was challenging. Ayanda had to say no more often. He spent less time with friends and family and delegated more responsibilities to his capable leaders. He worked after hours to accommodate mentoring and coaching clients and made sure his manager, team and family understood that this was a temporary season.
His family stood firmly behind him. They accepted that there would be fewer shared hours for a while, yet they remained his strongest supporters, listening to his ideas and reading his work when he needed a second pair of eyes. Their belief in him helped him push through moments of tiredness and doubt.
When he completed his qualification, colleagues responded with real excitement and the demand for his expertise grew quickly. Requests to chair hearings, to advise on cases and to support difficult processes increased. Instead of keeping this knowledge to himself, Ayanda now focuses on mentoring others so that more leaders feel confident managing labour relations. For him, continuous learning outside the traditional library field is a way to honour the fact that libraries are built around people. His combined background in business management, coaching, mentoring and labour relations has given him the tools to work with people, who are the most important resource in any organisation. He often echoes the words of Warren Buffett that the best investment you can make is in yourself.
Together, Lucien and Ayanda show what can happen when library staff step into new fields of study with courage and purpose. One chose public management, the other labour law, but both did so with the same hope. To become better leaders for their teams and their communities.
Their qualifications in public management and labour law may sit outside traditional library studies, yet the results are felt inside every day in the way teams are led, conflicts are handled and communities are served. Their journeys show that studying in a different field is not a step away from Library and Information Services, it is a step deeper into it. Because when leaders invest in themselves, everyone who walks through the library doors benefits tremendously.
Lonwabo Joseph Mabele Reference Librarian Brackenfell Library
Fish Hoek Library recently initiated it’s ‘Tweens Book Club’ for children aged 8 to 12 with a total of 9 participants attending the first session held at the library.
The club will run weekly until January 2026, introducing different genres and receiving feedback from the young readers.
The kids are passionate about reading and while some are more advanced than others, the club has a set of rules that accommodates everyone. The library’s space goes beyond meeting SDBIP-targets, it fosters a positive, enriching environment for literacy.
A highlight was 8-year-old participant, Emma, who has Dyslexia. Her mother expressed gratitude for the club which sparked Emma’s love for reading. Emma now reads every week, and her enthusiasm is contagious. Her dog, Noodle, occasionally joins in.
The library looks forward to more programs that nurture a love of reading in our young people. Quote by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis “There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.”
Facilitators staff: Assistant Librarian Zaakiya Williams and Librarian Agnes Knowles
DIGITAL LITERACY SESSION
A Digital Literacy session was held at Fish Hoek Library, covering topics such as computer components, online safety, digital identity, e-services, careers and basic MS word and typing skills.
For some participants, it was their first time using a computer. The group also expressed great interest in the library’s digital literacy programs including learning about the Libby app and the OPAC.
The session concluded with Certificates of Completion and participants were excited to have been part of this valuable programme.
The event highlighted the library’s core role as being “the heart of the community.”
Facilitators staff: Assistant Librarians Jill Festus (Left), Zaakiya Williams (Right)
Natasha Segers Principal Librarian Fish Hoek Library
My recent two month journey with the Marketing & Communications unit was a profound professional revelation. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity, which gave me a front-row seat to the dynamic energy, strategic demands and tight deadlines that shape our corporate brand. Moving from library social media and displays to department-level campaigns opened my eyes to the intricate balance of creativity and corporate guidelines.
Two of the biggest highlights during my time at Marketing and Communications included filming the Chess@Libraries video which reaching over 78 thousand views on the City’s official Facebook page. Another standout moment was working with the CSH Executive Director, Zukiswa Mandlana, on a directorate level video – all opportunities that ordinarily do not present themselves within the library space.
Filming a directorate video with Executive Director Zukiswa Mandlana
Beyond learning new tools, this experience became a mirror for my career. It allowed me to test my skills in a new environment, providing crystal-clear clarity on what I enjoy most and where I truly want to focus my energy. This introspection has ignited a renewed sense of purpose and I’m returning to my library role with fresh enthusiasm and a sharper, more strategic mindset.
If you’re feeling stagnant or curious about your own path, I cannot overstate the value of this experiential learning programme. It is a must for anyone looking to rediscover their “why” and explore their potential within our department. Stepping outside our daily routines is the best way to gain perspective on where we belong.
Take the leap… it might just redefine your purpose.
Sharing a moment at the Service Recognition Awards with City Photographer Bruce Sutherland.
Macassar Library was buzzed with programmes during the months of July and August. The staff strives to restore dignity, hope and a sense of belonging amongst community members of Macassar. On the 18th of July 2025, the staff of Macassar Library celebrated Mandela Day andserved soup and bread during lunch time to patrons visiting the library.
Later that day staff donated clothing to the community. The event attendees were also informed about membership applications, SmartCape and services offered. The day was well attended with patrons thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Programmes were abuzz at Macassar Library during July-August 2025
On the 20th of August, we hosted Women’s Day where we invited senior from the community to enjoy the day at the library. Some community member offered their services from rendering special song items, spiritual dance from regular ECD teacher, drum majorettes & Poems from False Bay Primary School and Febe’s Inn-Food who offered to donate some finger foods. Some community member offered to help with décor and flowers. We shared inspiring books and practical life tips, wisdom and well-being amongst our valued elders.
Various programmes were in abundance at the library
On a Wednesday morning in October, I found myself stepping into the Civic Centre’s banquet hall with equal parts excitement and curiosity. This wasn’t just another meeting in my calendar; I was attending the City’s first ever Communicators Forum. The forum brought together marketing and communications specialists from directorates across the City of Cape Town. For the first time, so many storytellers, strategists, designers, media minds and campaign crafters were gathered under one roof, ready to trade directorate insights, spark ideas and explore how we can elevate both our departmental brands and the City’s voice as a whole.
From the moment Executive Director, Gareth Morgan opened the session, followed by Priya Reddy, Director of Communications, setting the tone for why this gathering truly mattered, I felt a shift. This wasn’t business as usual, it felt like the beginning of a new chapter. One where collaboration wasn’t just encouraged but could possibly become our greatest superpower.
Throughout the morning, we heard insightful perspectives from different teams across Communications each offering a fresh lens on how we serve our residents and tell the City’s story:
Luthando Tyhalibongo, Media Manager on how the Media Office works behind the scenes to keep the public informed and the City’s reputation protected.
Amina Taylor, Production Support Officer on why brand consistency isn’t just design, it’s how we build trust, identity and recognition across the City.
Vanessa Gagu, Campaigns Co-Ordinator on how to tell the story of the City through communication campaigns that resonate with residents.
Sanelisiwe Ntabeni, Social Media Coordinator unpacked the complexities (and realities) of navigating social media in a fast-moving digital landscape.
Justin Lawrence, Digital Communications Manager shared insights into the City’s digital presence and how we are evolving online as well as social media dos and don’ts.
Aletta Kruger, Publications Manager closed with reflections on publications and the importance of storytelling in shaping how the City is experienced.
Sitting in that room surrounded by communicators who bring passion and purpose to their work reminded me that even though our industry is constantly evolving, collaboration will always be at the heart of effective communication. I walked away with valuable learnings and fresh ideas that I’ll be sharing within our department because when we work together, our collective impact grows.
What this means for libraries
Our libraries are buzzing with activity every day. From hosting programmes, supporting communities and nurturing literacy to creating safe, innovative spaces where curiosity thrives. But often, these stories remain tucked inside our buildings like undiscovered treasures. That’s where we come in.
If your library or unit has an upcoming programme or event, a video idea, a story worth telling, or even a small initiative that brought a smile to someone’s day please reach out to the M&C team! No initiative is too big or too small, if it matters to your community, it matters to us. A great example is the recent wedding album discovered at Strandfontein Library, where a couple was reunited with their long-lost wedding photos. So if something interesting unfolds when community members visit your library, snap a quick photo and send us a few lines about it — we’d love to share these moments!
When you share what’s happening on the ground, we can help amplify it across platforms and shine a well-deserved spotlight on the vital and relevant role libraries play in the lives of our residents. With teamwork and shared ideas, we can continue elevating libraries as vibrant hubs of learning, belonging and innovation.
For as long as I’ve been at Bishop Lavis Library, we have had a young patron who has been with us since her primary school days. I initially got to know her through her brother and as she progressed into high school, she continued to visit the library more regularly. Coming from a disadvantaged background, the library has always been more than just a place to borrow books for her and her family. It has been a safe, welcoming space where they felt supported and seen.
In September 2025, she shared with me that she would not be able to attend her matric ball due to financial constraints. It was clear how much this milestone meant to her and I felt compelled to assist. I reached out to my family network and through my aunt we were fortunate to find someone who generously sponsored everything she needed from the dress to the shoes, bag, and accessories.
Her parents were deeply grateful and seeing her looking absolutely beautiful on her special day was incredibly moving. Being able to make a meaningful difference in even one young person’s life is truly humbling. Moments like these reaffirm why our work in libraries matters so deeply to the communities we serve.
And I believe this is exactly what our ED Zukiswa meant when she spoke about the ‘importance of being a good human’.
Bishop Lavis library patron attending her matric ball after gaining support from the
On 4 September 2025, the community of Athlone united to support individuals experiencing homelessness through the 2nd Homeless Support Program at Athlone Library. Building upon the success of the inaugural initiative, this quarter-long campaign has inspired generous contributions of gently used and new clothing from compassionate residents throughout the region.
Over the past several months, members of the public have donated a diverse array of clothing, which dedicated staff meticulously sorted and prepared for distribution. Donations also came from the library’s own Knitting Club, run by staff and community members, whose handmade items added a personal touch of care and comfort.
Staff preparing tables with clothing and refreshments to support the homeless community, demonstrating care and outreach beyond traditional library services.
On the day of the event, these essential items were distributed directly to individuals experiencing homelessness providing much-needed warmth and dignity to those facing the harsh realities of street life. In addition to clothing, attendees were offered sandwiches and hot beverages, including coffee and tea ensuring nourishment and comfort.
A regular patron who often visits the library, and who witnessed the program while conversing with a staff member, remarked:
“Every donation, sandwich and cup of tea represents a small act of kindness that collectively makes a profound impact.”
Library staff serving refreshments and engaging with the needy.
What began as a small act of kindness has blossomed into a powerful movement. The gratitude expressed by recipients serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of this initiative. It offers hope, compassion and a sense of belonging to those who often feel overlooked.
Athlone Library hopes to inspire the community to continue donating, helping to build a stronger and more compassionate society. Together, through collective effort, we can effect meaningful change at our libraries. One coat, one meal and one warm beverage at a time.
