Founded in 1896, the Bulawayo Public Library is a private voluntary organisation that is registered in terms of the Welfare Act. The library is open to everyone as long as they join as readers.
It is used by people from communities within Bulawayo, rural Matabeleland and other parts of the country. The readers are made up of school children, of all levels, college and university students, academic readers and those who read for leisure.
The library, however, has been struggling to keep its doors open due to reduced patronage as a result of technological disruptions.
Fewer people are going to libraries due to the availability of digital information like e-books and the internet, which has made it easier to access content from anywhere.
Changing lifestyles, with some people having less free time and shifts in how people discover and consume information, such as through social media and online reviews.
Despite all these disruptions, there are still many reasons to save the country’s oldest library.
Libraries are still the only places where you find people that are specially trained to find reliable information and evaluate it – a skill that is still relevant in the digital age where misinformation has emerged as the biggest threat to a knowledge- based society.
The Bulawayo Public Library also still offers a safe space for school children to prepare for their examinations and internet access to those cannot afford it in their homes.
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It is against this background that we are throwing our weight behind the third edition of the Bulawayo Public Library Half Marathon that will be held in the city on Sunday.
Organisers say proceeds from the half marathon would be used for critical renovations. The roof on the braille section of the library has been leaking and it is one of the areas that needs urgent attention, the chief librarian Ruth Budi said.
We urge Bulawayo residents to join in the fight to save the Bulawayo Public Library for the sake of future generations and be part of the half marathon.
