Meadowridge Library is a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

in the suburb of Meadowridge, in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It has 8,112 members, and was ranked 14th in the

City of Cape Town The City of Cape Town (; ) is a Metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality that forms the metropolitan municipality (South Africa), local government of Cape Town and surrounding areas. As of 2022 it has a population of ...

's top 20 circulating libraries in 2014, out of the city's 101 libraries. The

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

, established in January 1960, is open 45 hours a week, and currently provides work to 11 employees and 10

volunteers Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergenc ...

. It offers books, DVDs, CDs, audiobooks, and magazines for loan. The library holds 78,106 items. Meadowridge Library's holdings can be searched online via the City of Cape Town's Open Public Access Catalogue (OPAC). Meadowridge library is in close proximity to a number of schools, including Bergvliet Primary School, Bergvliet High School, Westcott Primary School, Sweet Valley Primary School, and the American International School of Cape Town. The library serves a large community, with many neighboring suburbs not having libraries of their own.

Facilities

Meadowridge Library has its own parking area and a dedicated children's library, positioned separately to the main library area. The library has three computers available for public use. Members of the public can become library members, and then register, using their library card, to use the computers via Cape Town's Smart Cape initiative.

Community programs

Meadowridge Library's hosts weekly storytelling sessions every Wednesday in its children's section, attended by children from a neighboring preschool, as well as others from surrounding areas. Local authors occasionally attend the sessions and read their books. The library also hosts regular book sales, class visits, educational holiday programs, library orientation sessions for local school children,

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

s, computer classes and reading programs. Meadowridge Library staff regularly take part in outreach programs. One of the staff assists with Help-to-Read tuition at a local school on a weekly basis. The library hosts an annual Reading Competition in April, sponsored by the local ward councillor, in which grade seven students from four disadvantaged schools participate. One of the library's volunteers runs a free

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

class every Tuesday evening. During the last quarter of the school year, the library is involved in Capricorn Park Primary School's Career Day. During the Library and Information Association of South Africa's South African Library Week, which takes place each year during the week of the 20th of March, Meadowridge Library joins with other Cape Town libraries to promote the library service at a Meadowridge shopping center. In October 2015, Meadowridge Library partnered with the South African Association of Women Graduates and the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa to run an educational program at the library for 35 girls from

Khayelitsha Khayelitsha () is a township (South Africa), township in Western Cape, South Africa, on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town, City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The name is Xhosa language, Xhosa for ''New Home''. It is reputed to ...

and

Kraaifontein Kraaifontein is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa and is located on the north-eastern outskirts of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The name originated from the large number of crows (''Kraai'' in Afrikaans) that ...

Gallery

File:Meadowridge Library Main Section.jpg, Main section of the

. File:Meadowridge Library Sign.jpg, Entrance sign. File:Meadowridge Library Smart Cape Computers.jpg, Smart Cape public access computers. File:Meadowridge Library Smart Cape Sign.jpg, Smart Cape sign at the entrance to the library.

References

External links

Library map: Cape Town and surrounds
{{Authority control Libraries in Cape Town Public libraries in the Western Cape Meadowridge