Kuyga community welcomes new library

EASTERN Cape Sport and Recreation MEC Pemmy Majodina yesterday handed over a prefab library to the Kuyga community in Port Elizabeth.

This was the first community library for the area and children previously had to travel as far as Linton Grange to access library services.

Parents, teachers and pupils could not contain their excitement as Majodina cut the ribbon to officially open the modular library yesterday.

Nomkhitha Mali, a parent from Kuyga, said a library in their community was long overdue.

“We have been asking for a library for years now. We are so happy that finally our children will stop suffering,” Mali said.

“It costs R20 to get there [Linton Grange] . . . My son is doing Grade 12. This library has computer labs – this is exactly what they need.”

Majodina said the delivery of the library was also part of their plan to assist the provincial Department of Education to improve matric results.

The handover happens during a week of high activity in the Bay as ANC leaders descend on the city to launch the party’s election manifesto on Saturday.

Kuyga High School teacher Marlene Lottering said she wanted to create a culture of reading for her pupils, and the library could not have come at a better time.

“I recently joined the school. It hurt me that there was no community library nearby. We used the limited material in our schools to promote reading – this library will make a huge difference,” she said.

The library, situated at the Kuyga Community Centre, will service residents of Ward 40, which includes Kuyga, Greenbushes, St Albans, Van Stadens, Rocklands, Blue Horizon Bay and Seaview.

Majodina said the Kuyga library was one of three she would be handing over to Nelson Mandela Bay this week.

“We have two other libraries that we will hand over to Kwazakhele and Colchester communities tomorrow,” she said.

The libraries would be equipped with computers, books and toys, as well as capped internet access, she said.

Urging parents to look after the library, Majodina said: “Parents, when you protest for service delivery you burn infrastructure that is meant to help your children. If you protest for toilets, you cannot burn a library. Look after this facility.”

Majodina said her department planned to deliver 34 modular libraries in the city in the 2016-17 financial year.