14 - 21 March
South African Library Week (SALW) 2015 will be celebrated from 14-21 March 2015 with the theme Connect @ your library!
The national launch event will be held on Friday, 13 March 2015 in Cape Town.
The theme “Connect @ your library” resonates with the belief that libraries connect people to each other, to knowledge and information, to print and electronic resources, to technology and professional support.
Libraries must take the lead in being active community partners towards developing an informed and educated nation. This means providing access to information about health & hygiene, economic empowerment, poverty eradication and education in desired spaces that foster lifelong learning and knowledge exchange. This is further enhanced by skilled and proficient library staff who connect their communities to relevant and appropriate information & knowledge resources, emerging technologies, as well as dynamic and innovative programmes & services for personal and community development.
Libraries are fast emerging as technologically enabled environments, which provide individuals the opportunity to connect to:
- The Internet
- Databases, online learning & research tools
- Friends, families & colleagues via social networking sites
- Employment opportunities
- Digital libraries, which include institutional repositories
- Emerging mobile technologies such as tablets, e-Readers, smartphones, etc
This theme also highlights the importance of library practitioners connecting with each other, across all sectors, for the sharing of skills, best practices, global trends and national priorities, so that a strong cohort of professionals emerge with a common understanding and vision for the development of an informed nation.
It is therefore important for all to make the connection that libraries are desired one-stop, socially inclusive spaces that enable one to Connect @ your library to family, friends, technologies, information and the world.
Source: Library and Information Society of South Africa
