Introduction
This article as the title indicates is a selection of five Art Libraries in South Africa. It is by no means meant to be representative of the country. Each of the librarians in the different institutions and organization presented here, have given their own input on their libraries, on their collection, users and what’s special about their libraries. So it’s a bit of an insiders view, if you like. The names and contact details of the librarians in each of the libraries are included.
Iziko South African National Gallery Library
By Suvashni Casoojee at sjcasoojee@iziko.org.za
Iziko South African National Gallery Library is situated in the
attractive Cape Town Company Gardens. It is further enhanced by the
splendor of Devil's Peak and Table Mountain in the background. The
present building dates back from 1930, the history of the first item
accessioned in 1931. The current collection that is captured
electronically has 15446 records.
The library comprises of 3 staff members. The operating hours are
Tuesday - Friday 08h30 - 16h00.
The Library boasts a unique:
* reference collection on South African and international Art
books and journals
* a collection of newspaper cuttings dating back to 1904
* a comprehensive pamphlet collection from the turn of the
century
* invitations of national and International exhibitions
* Art boxes for scholars, students and academics
* postcards with art content
* Videos, Dvds and CDS
* Exhibition catalogues of national and international galleries
The users include:
* Curators and staff of the Gallery
* Public
* Pupils, students and Academics
* Tourists
* Other Libraries, Art schools and Museums
* Artists
* Researchers
Exhibition catalogues are sold via the library. Annually on the 18 May
and the 24 September a book sale is held at the Iziko South African
National Gallery.
Fine Arts Library UKZN (Westville Library Collection)
By Richard Beharilal" at Beharilalr@ukzn.ac.za
The Fine Art Collection, often referred to as the Fine Arts Library was a specialized collection of books dedicated for the use of both students, staff, and the broader community. The collection itself was started in the early 1960s at the University Library in Salisbury Island. In 1971, the University of Durban-Westville was established in Westville after the land was donated to the Government by the Borough of Westville. At this new site, being the University of Durban-Westville, the Library was built. As a result the collection of books, and other material was relocated to the present site, and the Fine Arts Collection being one of the prized collections of books. The collection was supplement by some very rare books, which was the envy of many private artists/collectors whom used the Fine Arts Library with prior permission. The Collection was still not optimally utilized due to the space in which it was housed on level 7. The room was quite small in size, and users were often inconvenienced since they had to work outside of the enclosed area. In 1985 the Library was extended by another 4 levels, and the Fine Arts Collection was then housed in a modern architecturally design area on level 9. It operated for over 21 years on level 9 bringing along many South African, and World Scholars to this area of the Library. Unfortunately, due to the merger the Fine Arts Collection had to be relocated in 2006 to the other 2 Campuses (Howard College & PMB). It was indeed a great loss for the Westville Campus as the Fine Arts Collection enriched the library stock. The most important loss is that the collection was unique it its nature. Apart from the Fine Arts, Integrated Arts (Education) users it served many users, the Speech & Drama, Engineering, Architecture, History, and Religious Studies users but especially, the Sport Science Students (whom are currently at Westville – Dance).
Hiddingh Hall Library
By Gill Morgan at Gill.Morgan@uct.ac.za
This article as the title indicates is a selection of five Art Libraries in South Africa. It is by no means meant to be representative of the country. Each of the librarians in the different institutions and organization presented here, have given their own input on their libraries, on their collection, users and what’s special about their libraries. So it’s a bit of an insiders view, if you like. The names and contact details of the librarians in each of the libraries are included.
Iziko South African National Gallery Library
By Suvashni Casoojee at sjcasoojee@iziko.org.za
Iziko South African National Gallery Library is situated in the
attractive Cape Town Company Gardens. It is further enhanced by the
splendor of Devil's Peak and Table Mountain in the background. The
present building dates back from 1930, the history of the first item
accessioned in 1931. The current collection that is captured
electronically has 15446 records.
The library comprises of 3 staff members. The operating hours are
Tuesday - Friday 08h30 - 16h00.
The Library boasts a unique:
* reference collection on South African and international Art
books and journals
* a collection of newspaper cuttings dating back to 1904
* a comprehensive pamphlet collection from the turn of the
century
* invitations of national and International exhibitions
* Art boxes for scholars, students and academics
* postcards with art content
* Videos, Dvds and CDS
* Exhibition catalogues of national and international galleries
The users include:
* Curators and staff of the Gallery
* Public
* Pupils, students and Academics
* Tourists
* Other Libraries, Art schools and Museums
* Artists
* Researchers
Exhibition catalogues are sold via the library. Annually on the 18 May
and the 24 September a book sale is held at the Iziko South African
National Gallery.
Fine Arts Library UKZN (Westville Library Collection)
By Richard Beharilal" at Beharilalr@ukzn.ac.za
The Fine Art Collection, often referred to as the Fine Arts Library was a specialized collection of books dedicated for the use of both students, staff, and the broader community. The collection itself was started in the early 1960s at the University Library in Salisbury Island. In 1971, the University of Durban-Westville was established in Westville after the land was donated to the Government by the Borough of Westville. At this new site, being the University of Durban-Westville, the Library was built. As a result the collection of books, and other material was relocated to the present site, and the Fine Arts Collection being one of the prized collections of books. The collection was supplement by some very rare books, which was the envy of many private artists/collectors whom used the Fine Arts Library with prior permission. The Collection was still not optimally utilized due to the space in which it was housed on level 7. The room was quite small in size, and users were often inconvenienced since they had to work outside of the enclosed area. In 1985 the Library was extended by another 4 levels, and the Fine Arts Collection was then housed in a modern architecturally design area on level 9. It operated for over 21 years on level 9 bringing along many South African, and World Scholars to this area of the Library. Unfortunately, due to the merger the Fine Arts Collection had to be relocated in 2006 to the other 2 Campuses (Howard College & PMB). It was indeed a great loss for the Westville Campus as the Fine Arts Collection enriched the library stock. The most important loss is that the collection was unique it its nature. Apart from the Fine Arts, Integrated Arts (Education) users it served many users, the Speech & Drama, Engineering, Architecture, History, and Religious Studies users but especially, the Sport Science Students (whom are currently at Westville – Dance).
Hiddingh Hall Library
By Gill Morgan at Gill.Morgan@uct.ac.za
The Hiddingh Hall Library, a branch of UCT Libraries, is situated on UCT's Hiddingh Campus in Cape Town. Built in 1911, it was the original library of the South African College, later to become the University of Cape Town. It became a branch library in 1931 when the J.W. Jagger Library was established as the University's main library on the Groote Schuur Campus. The Hiddingh Hall Library now serves the Faculty staff, and students (both undergraduate and postgraduate), of the Departments of Fine Art, Drama and Historical Studies.
The collection consists of printed material, books and journals, audio-visual material, (cd’s, dvd’s and videos) and electronic resources such as journal indexing databases and online journals, amongst others, to support research.
The library has a very extensive and comprehensive art collection, from art history to the very contemporary both in print and audio-visual. Similarly resourced is our drama collection, which includes an extensive play collection, audio-visual material, and accent training material.
The Visual Art Collection of University of KwaZulu-Natal Library in Pietermaritzburg
By Jenny Aitchison at aitchison@ukzn.ac.za
The collection consists of books, journals and audio-visual items that support the teaching and research programmes of the Centre for Visual Art, including the history of art. Formerly the Department of Fine Art, it has been based on the Pietermaritzburg campus since 1937. The collection is not housed separately but forms part of the Cecil Renaud Library's collection. Books on South African and African art have always been a priority and these are an important focus in collection development.
Reference and loan books and audio-visual items are classified according to the Dewey Decimal Classification system and have Library of Congress Subject Headings. Journals are filed alphabetically by title with the Library's other print journals. They are not assigned class numbers or subject headings. Access to electronic journals is mainly through the databases that form part of UKZN Library's electronic resources. Links to these appear on the Library's website, from which it is also possible to search the catalogue of the UKZN Library.
http://library.ukzn.ac.za/HomePage718.aspx
The subject librarian for Visual Art liaises with academic staff in the Centre to select books and audio-visual material to be acquired. He or she is also responsible for the classification and subject cataloguing of these information resources; helping staff, students and members of the public find relevant information and providing training in information-seeking and retrieval skills for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Informatics and Design Faculty Library at Cape Peninsula University of Technology
By Fatima Darries at DarriesFa@cput.ac.za
Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) is a recently merged institution, having previously been Cape Technikon and Peninsula Technikon. They are respectively, historically advantaged and historically disadvantaged institutions. This means they were intended for white and black students, respectively. Technikon’s are similar to institutes of technology or polytechs. The previous minister of Education, Kader Asmal introduced the merging of higher education institutions in order to catalyse and expedite transformation in the higher education sector. He was also responsible for the renaming and refocusing of these institutions to from Technikons to Universities of Technology.
CPUT is therefore very much in transition as a result of the merger, and this is reflected in the library. The Informatics and Design Faculty Library is situated on the Cape Town and Bellville Campuses, approximately 50 km apart, and are two of seven campus sites. Early in next year there will be another site a few kilometers from the Cape Town Campus, which will have specifically the Architecture, Town and Regional Planning and Interior Design department libraries. These three form part of the Informatics and Design Faculty, along with Graphic, Jewellery, Industrial, Fashion and Surface Design Faculty and Informatics.
We have an approximate 30 000 items in our audiovisual and book collection, and 170 titles in our hard copy journal collection, with the bulk being in Cape Town campus. We have 4 000 registered students in the faculty, with again the bulk on the Cape Town Campus.
Both the students and staff of the Informatics and Design Faculty use the collection very intensively and extensively. My only complaint: they know the stock so well that they go directly to the stock without consulting the Library catalogue. We often have students from other institutions and also the surrounding school using the collection. While the collection is relatively small, we have one of the best collections for the Design Arts in the South Africa.
Conclusion
The quick, unscientific, look into the different art library collections, reflects both our history in South Africa and gives you an indication of a society undergoing rapid change.
Co-ordinated and compiled by Fatima Darries, November 2007.
