The Johannesburg City Library: The decay almost drives you to book snatching

THERE is a desperate elegance as I walk through the doors and shut my umbrella. Situated on the old Market Square, opposite the ANC’s Luthuli House, the Johannesburg City Library stands surrounded by makeshift fences. I measure my steps precisely, with eyes like rulers, to slip past the two security guards and stumble up to the spacious dome windows against which the rain is constantly pattering: Shiny polished wood and brass, marble, glass and dark wood accents. The Johannesburg City Library has been closed since 2020, initially due to Covid-19 lockdowns.

Built between 1931 and 1935, it was the winner of an architectural competition, on a design by Cape Town architect John Perry. In an Italianate style, it is one of the city's most iconic public buildings and an example of Neoclassical architecture with Art Deco influences modelled on New York's J.P. Morgan Library. After the end of the pandemic in 2021, the building remained closed due to structural problems such as roof leaks, water damage and non-compliance with fire safety regulations. It houses more than 1,5 million books, according to the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation, as well as an extensive collection of archival material not available anywhere else.

Served as a haven

The library served as a haven for the city's children and unemployed who took advantage of the free Wi-Fi. It was positioned as a community-centred space to transform the lives of the people of Johannesburg: an unusual building that incorporated a theatre, the Africana Museum, and the Geological Museum.

The institution was the first among the major South African city libraries to be free and not based on subscriptions, and it was the first to develop a branch library system and also to put a travelling library on the road. In 1974, it became the first public library to open its doors to all races.

Although renovation efforts began in May 2021, progress has been at a snail's pace due to administrative challenges and issues surrounding the budget that was submitted, which completely exaggerated the damage. In December 2024, city officials announced plans for a partial reopening in the first quarter of 2025, with full access expected by mid-2025.

The prolonged closure has had a major impact on students, researchers and the wider community who rely on the library's resources. Protests last May led to Johannesburg residents complaining that it symbolised the decline of South Africa's economic core. The protests were organised by the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation and the Johannesburg Crisis Alliance, part of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation. After numerous promises of restoration, officials now claim that it poses a fire risk and must remain closed for the time being.

I’ve never been inside the building before, and it’s almost impossible for me to reimagine the space filled with people as I wander among the shelves of hundreds of leather-bound books in the Michaelis Art Library. My footsteps echo in the empty hallways as I get lost among books about obscure artists and art movements I’ve never encountered before. But I take my time: The marble, fabric, and stained glass captivate this bibliophile’s soul.

Here and there, large drops of water leak through the roof. Workers are shovelling and drilling, their footprints leaving marks in the dust. A 2020 calendar on a desk indicates when time has come to a standstill; drawers with meticulously scribbled notes stand aside in an antique cabinet, and here and there damaged books are shrouded in a fuzzy green sheen.

For many, the continued closure of the library is symbolic of the fate of a city that has had 10 mayors in six years, none of whom have been able to curb the frequent water shortages, power outages or potholes in the roads. Yet the chairman of the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation, David Fleminger, believes that the restoration of the library has progressed.

“After the protest in April 2024, something gave way, they started inviting us to the stakeholder meetings once a month and were quite co-operative. Previously, they said that the city would open the ground floor by the end of February. They have not changed the timeline significantly. We do not know all the ins and outs, but what I can say is that in 2009 there was a substantial grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York of $2 million, and the City of Johannesburg itself has spent a further R55 million on the project.

“Then in 2021 the library closed due to Covid-19, and then the fire hazard issue came up. In 2021-24 the library was covered in scaffolding – we don’t know what the scaffolding was for. I do know that work was done on the roof. We were told that there was structural damage to the library. We were invited to a site visit and asked an engineer to accompany us, who gave us a status report. After that, we were able to address whatever needed to be addressed.”

Wet city seeping through the roofs

It feels like the wet city is seeping through the roofs. I rustle through the pages of an old Vanity Fair album that is sticky and crumbling under bird droppings.

Yet Flo Bird reckons the Johannesburg City Library is doing better than the Johannesburg Art Gallery. Bird, a history student and former teacher, is an accidental heritage activist and founded the Parktown and Westcliff Heritage Trust to rally support for the area's endangered heritage.

“We do have meetings and the contractors are keeping us informed. They are very keen to open. It makes me so angry that all the children don't have access to books and we are whining about children being illiterate. The downside is the JDA [Johannesburg Development Agency] because I think they are going to take their time. I hope the children's book section will be open by the end of March. We meet once a month, on the first Tuesday.

“I have a different feeling about the library than the Johannesburg Art Gallery. The librarians are desperate to get back to the library. For all these years, no one realised that libraries are part of service delivery. The city didn't see it as part of their service delivery until we had the protest. I don't think they believed it was necessary for the health of the city to maintain the library."

I asked my friends what the library meant to them.

Peter Mammes, artist

“The smell of the library when you stand in front of those grand stairs. That whole part of the city was enchanting; from Newtown to the library. It had a magical feel, it was the embodiment of the rainbow nation. The government totally screwed it up. My school was in Braamfontein and I used to walk there regularly when I was in school. The buildings around the park always reminded me of New York, from what I saw in books. At that time it was the only place where you could borrow art books, it was before the internet was a thing. They had a lot of weird books and they didn't have an issue if you sat there all day.

“For a very short time during the World Cup in 2010, you could even walk there in the evening and there were guards everywhere. Things were very positive and it was during that time that I lived there. The ANC Youth League had an insanely violent march and for three days I couldn't leave my flat. Our museums are not like they are in Europe, so the exposure to art books was one of the most important things I did. I didn't go to university and learned everything through art books. There was an awesome pizza place across from the library that had karaoke on Thursday nights."

Alistair Anderson, journalist

“It’s over, convert it to housing."

Carina Comrie, information design specialist

“We would go there on Saturday mornings and take out heavy stacks of design books and my girlfriend would take out sheet music from the music library. They also had regular book sales that we wouldn't miss."

Johan Thom, artist and lecturer

“The late David Koloane spent many days there reading – every week of his life. He was a great champion of education and understood what it meant for black South Africans to be able to read freely at the time."

Ansi Buitendag, human rights lawyer

“The silence. The smell of books. The pleasure of going there at lunchtime and just sitting and taking it all in. Alas, alas, there is none of that left."

Eben Keun, architect

“Since the new renovation was done, we have presented an exceptional Sustainable Design Award there, as well as a immersive exhibition and workshops for school children on sustainability. It is an exceptional space. It also houses the Michaelis Art Library which is part of the Johannesburg Art Gallery's holdings."

Hans Pienaar, older writer

“The newspaper archive was invaluable in the research for my book The Third War Against Mapoch and the place was always packed with young black people engrossed in books. Sometimes they would come and ask me for help, it was inspiring. Later, in the 1990s, I started working around the corner at Independent Newspapers and especially used the music library, the head of which had a wonderful taste in contemporary classical music. I kept losing CDs and then had to replace them at great expense. There is a lot of money of mine in that place.

“When the man retired, they replaced him with a young, arrogant cadre type who systematically removed all the classical music and replaced it with even more hip-hop and gospel than was already there at the time. His own playlists. Some of the users saw what was what and started carrying away the classical CDs themselves. I could see this was the beginning of the end."

Henry Cradle Ferreira, younger writer

“Nothing."

I consider walking out with an art book. Maybe I'll rescue one. The security guard under the escalators catches my eye. I meekly put the book back and get out of the place.

♦ VWB ♦

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