In a bid to keep youngsters off the streets in Port Elizabeth’s gang-troubled northern areas, Nelson Mandela Bay recently launched its first uber-high-tech digital library.
Tablets, e-books, encyclopaedia apps and audio books are among the sophisticated offerings now available at Gelvandale Library, thanks to the joint initiative between Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University’s Centre for Community Technologies (CCT) and Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality – which is likely to be rolled out at other Bay libraries.
“This initiative is the first of its kind in Africa,” said CCT director Prof Darelle van Greunen.
The library now boasts tablet facilities for school-age children – where they can read e-books, carry out homework-related research, watch educational videos and access old exam papers for revision purposes. There is also a separate section for adults, with specialised tablet facilities for older residents in the community. “They can read newspapers and magazines online with enlarged text.”
Kindle-like e-reader devices will also be available for loan, in the same way that books are borrowed from the library.
Van Greunen said the Gelvandale Library was chosen in a bid to “create an environment to get children off the street” in an area notorious for substance abuse and gangsterism.
The initiative also hopes to encourage more people to read.
“Access to information still remains a challenge in our society. Coupled to that, there is a lack of understanding of the importance of reading and developing oneself – young people today do not read as much as they should.
“Reading is the starting step of many things – it can help build solid stairs for [learners] to climb and achieve something big out there.”
In a parallel initiative that complements the library project, CCT will be placing similar tablet facilities – available at weekends and after-hours, when the library is closed – in the nearby Famhealth Medipark, where CCT is already involved in a number of community-upliftment programmes.
One of these tablet facilities will be geared towards children aged two to eight, and will include apps to help them not only develop their scholastic abilities but their motor skills as well. Computer literacy training will also be offered to the public.
Nkosinathi Sikhosana, a municipal children’s librarian, said: “More and more youth are spending time on the internet and on their phones. With this initiative, we are trying to meet them half-way and position libraries in a way that is relevant to the youth … and we want to keep children occupied.
“We are promoting libraries, reading, information access and keeping the youth off the street.”
If the pilot is successful, Sikhosana said the municipality aimed to implement it in all the city’s libraries.
Alan Straton
Latest posts by Alan Straton (see all)
- The Household Pest Mystery That Starts in the Roof - 25 October 2026
- The Holiday Souvenir Nobody Wants: Bed Bugs in the Luggage - 25 October 2026
- What Comes Out of a Rug Before the Washing Starts? - 25 October 2026
- Desktop Pop-Ups Become the Compliance Channel Email Cannot Deliver - 23 October 2026
- Desktop Pop-Ups Become the Compliance Channel Email Cannot Deliver - 23 October 2026
