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Unisa Library celebrates 46th Annual Africa Day
"The United Nation’s theme for this year’s Africa Day celebrations is 'Unifying Africa through Education'," emphasised Ms Khabonina Maduna of the Centre for African Renaissance Studies (CARS) in her address at the Africa Day celebration hosted by the Unisa Library on the Muckleneuk campus.
The 25th of May marks the anniversary of Africa Day, observed since 1963 to celebrate the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was re-established as the African Union (AU) in July 2002. The year 2009 marks the 46th anniversary of this important day to Africa and her Diaspora.
"Given this backdrop, Unisa forms a crucial part of this year’s celebrations, as the largest and most resourced university library in the southern hemisphere," she said. She also introduced colleagues and guests to the CARS library and explained how this library can only function well with the support of the Unisa Library and Unisa Press.
Flanked by the African writers’ display in the Library’s Van Schaik room, Unisa librarian, Mr Dawie Malan, spoke about the origins of the pictures on display, as well as their related literature. The images on display include those of inspirational figures such as Gcina Mhlophe, Zakes Mda, Mazisi Kunene, Bessie Head and Matsemela Manaka. He also spoke about African writers on the continent, such as Chinua Achebe and Ngugi wa Thi’ongo. Postcolonial literature from the African Diaspora was also on display.
Ms Lindi Nhlapo of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions' (IFLA) regional office stated that her office is the African centre for developing African libraries and librarianship. At an event such as Africa Day, IFLA helps to consolidate activities that are common to all university libraries. Through the IFLA office at Unisa, library associations can be strengthened, the digital divide can be bridged, and indigenous knowledge can be documented and preserved.
In her presentation, Dr Gerda Mischke of the Institute for Curriculum and Learning Development (ICLD) (in collaboration with the Department of African Languages) took colleagues and guests through the free online course in African languages. She highlighted the need for colleagues to learn an African language --- or even phrases --- in light of the upcoming FIFA Soccer World Cup, and to strengthen relationships with other Africans through cultural/language sensitivities.
In her address, Ms Ansie van der Westhuizen of the Unisa Institutional Repository (UnisaIR) appealed to colleagues to document their research outputs with the IR, as this programme allows the sharing and distribution of knowledge from journals and conference papers to books and other research material. She also highlighted issues pertaining to copyright and general permissions required for writers and academics to take into account before their work is published in the IR.
Guests were invited to view exhibitions from Unisa Press, the Department of African Languages, CARS and the Unisa Library's African writers’ series. | 
