The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has launched a pioneering partnership with the University of South Africa (UNISA) to dramatically expand access to library services for students and the broader public within the metro.

Launched on Tuesday at New Brighton Library, the collaboration aims to enhance educational opportunities by transforming municipal libraries into resource hubs that support both UNISA students and lifelong learners.

Under the agreement, municipal libraries will provide free internet and computer access, designated study spaces, and serve as convenient delivery and collection points for UNISA library materials.

Through this collaboration, the municipality’s libraries will offer internet and computer facilities, provide study spaces, and serve as convenient delivery and collection points for UNISA library materials.

As part of the agreement, the following areas of collaboration were outlined:

• Reciprocal participation in annual events and programmes.
• ICT training and support, primarily facilitated by UNISA.
• Distribution of UNISA brochures, posters, and event announcements in municipal libraries, and vice versa.
• Free internet access and usage of electronic resources for students, including Wi-Fi, databases, electronic reserves, journals, and books.
• Collaboration on courier services and information dissemination.
• Provision of study spaces for UNISA students.
• Joint efforts in marketing and communication to assess student satisfaction.
• Collaboration on sponsorships, such as provision of computers.
• Sharing of reports, statistics, and information.

Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Executive Mayor, Babalwa Lobishe, hailed the initiative as a transformative moment for the metro’s education agenda.

“We are not only opening library doors, but we are opening pathways to opportunity, to education, and to a better future for all. By extending the access to knowledge and technology, especially in our undeserved communities, we are affirming that education is the foundation of dignity, progress, and equality. This fits well in our efforts to build a people-centred and inclusive metro,” Lobishe said.

UNISA Executive Director for Library Services, Professor Mpho Ngoepe echoed the mayor’s sentiments, saying the initiative marks the beginning of a journey and contributing to closing the inequality gap that leads to poverty, through knowledge and empowerment.

“In this digital era, libraries must take intentional steps to reach users where they are. We are moving towards a time when UNISA library services will be accessible to everyone, including those who are not enrolled with UNISA.

“This is the end of the era where universities were seen as inaccessible ivory towers. Through this partnership, we will also explore the dissemination of research outputs,” Ngoepe said.

Member of the Mayoral Committee for Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Sinesipho Kwatsha, emphasised the broader social impact of the initiative.

“This partnership is about more than logistics, it is a social contract and a clear commitment that every learner matters, “no matter where they come from. Through this collaboration, learners from disadvantaged communities, who might not otherwise have access to conducive learning spaces and resources, will now be supported through our network of municipal libraries across the metro,” Kwatsha said.

Originally posted on SAnews.gov.za