Speech by Executive Mayor, Alderman Patricia de Lille,
at the opening of the Harare Library in Khayelitsha on 17
November 2011
MEC Dr. Ivan Meyer,
Members of the Carnegie Corporation,
Honoured guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning, goeiedag, molweni.
We have made it our mission to make Cape Town an inclusive and a
caring city.
To give people dignity, we must provide them with the resources to
access opportunities.
We cannot just speak about doing all we can to help people.
We must actually explore ways that we can assist to change people’s
lives.
We know that we face constraints.
We know that we face challenges.
We know that we will sometimes not meet everyone’s expectations.
But we also know that we can find strength and the way forward through
partnerships.
We understand that to effect real and meaningful change, we need to
embrace all options available to us.
We have to look to the strengths and resources we do have at our
disposal.
And that strength is our people.
By working out ways with communities to change the way they live, we
tap into our greatest asset.
And the power of that asset generates yet more energy.
Today, we see the fruits of that culmination, here in this library.
This library is a symbol of a pact with the people of Khayelitsha to create
a more inclusive city together.
But it is also a symbol of the energy we are generating in Cape Town.
That is because it is a symbol and a testament to other partnerships.
Partnerships that were forged by those who also share a vision of a future
where people have dignity.
A vision of a future where people can access the best facilities and
opportunities, no matter where they are born.
I am pleased to have representatives of the Carnegie Corporation of New
York here with us today.
The generous funding of $3 million has helped us create this vision of a
better future life.
With other partners, including the Carnegie Corporation, the
Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant, the German Development
Bank, the Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading programme,
Provincial grant funding, the City, and members of the community, we are
helping to change this community.
Every stakeholder has played their part in a remarkable display of what
strong partnerships can achieve.
We are especially grateful to the Carnegie Corporation for funding the
materials and ICT infrastructure that provide resources for people to
access.
For a library is not four walls and a roof.
It needs materials which people can use to grow, learn and reach their full
potential.
Thanks to the Carnegie Corporation, this library has a full complement of
resources, from books, to magazines, to digital media, to CDs, to the
internet.
And it is perhaps this last resource that will be the most valuable of all.
Libraries allow people to explore the world through personal study.
But they also allow people to come together and grow.
They foster a sense of community.
But in the twenty-first century, we know that the whole world is a
community through the internet.
Because of the investment of the Carnegie Corporation, users of this
library can now become members of the global community.
In so doing, they can access opportunities for themselves and their
families.
They can learn and grow.
It is certainly true that a library is more than four walls and a roof.
A library is a community coming together.
It is knowledge embraced.
It is dignity advanced.
Between these four walls lies the future of this city.