The government is being asked to consider a new deal for South Africa's 1 240 public libraries. Provinces, who are responsible for the libraries, are not getting money from central government to meet their responsibilities. In the past, libraries had been run 90% by municipalities. Since 1996 the provinces were meant to control the libraries but they have no money to do so. Municipalities had on the whole continued paying staff salaries and looking after the infrastructure, the buildings and grounds. However, faced with growing demand for basic services such as water, cleansing and sewage, the municipalities were cutting back on library budgets, which led to cuts in staff and opening hours, and even the closure of some libraries.
A libraries working group was set up by the print industry, and after research in all 9 provinces, made recommendations to the national Department of Arts and Culture earlier this year. The group recommended municipalities should continue to look after library buildings and other infrastructure. Another recommendation was that provinces should build capacity in libraries, so they were able to tell the province what books they wanted for their particular readers and appoint appropriate staff.