13 August 2025

Johannesburg CBD, Gauteng

When the Johannesburg City Library remained closed for four years without explanation or communication from the City of Johannesburg it infuriated city residents who could not get answers or updates from the authorities. 

At stake was the loss of a critical resource for all Joburg’s people and a blow to literacy, learning, culture, heritage and a slice of modern urban life. 

It took decisive mobilisation, action and pressure from a broad range of active citizens to get the library reopened to the public this August 2025. Citizen monitoring of library services throughout the city continues.

What was the problem?

When the City of Johannesburg closed the central library in 2020, seemingly to fix it up, it never continued or completed its work. The City eventually let the library remain closed and go silent, with no visible work being done for four years. There were no updates and no communication on when it would be reopened or why it remained shut. 

A city without a central library means its people are stripped of access to books, music (from the music library on the premises), archives, reference material or a place with internet access in which to search for information, to learn and study. 

When requests for updates were met with a wall of silence, stronger civic action  was called for. 

How did they solve it?

The Johannesburg Heritage Foundation (JHF) and the Johannesburg Crisis Alliance (JCA) joined forces to pressure the city to take action and to communicate. They held widely publicised protests outside the closed library in downtown Joburg and embarked on a strong social media campaign. They also ensured they had media coverage for their protest events. 

The campaign earned the support of the general public along with prominent academics, journalists and authors who donated their books as a powerful show of support for the reopening of this important service. 

Their efforts put pressure on the Johannesburg Development Agency to set up a stakeholders forum, which meant the public could participate, give input and get progress updates. 

“By providing external stakeholders with a forum for genuine dialogue with the COJ and its agencies, we believe that we have reached a more sustainable and satisfactory result than if the city had gone it alone,” a statement by JHF and JCA in August 2025 read.

The library was re-opened on Women’s Day 2025. The event saw the heritage foundation use the occasion to install two heritage plaques at the library. This act further recognises the importance of the library as a place of heritage and historical importance and a resource and asset for the city’s people.   

The two civic organisations say they will continue to pressure the City of Johannesburg to restore the opening hours of all libraries to include Saturdays, as it was before the closure and to re-open several branch libraries in the city, including Louisa Prince Library in Ennerdale, the Protea North Library in Soweto, the Southdale Library in Robertsham, the Brixton Library and the Murray Park Library in Jeppestown. 

“These facilities play an important role in education, literacy and community upliftment,” their statement read.

What made it work?

•  Using memory and connection – the Johannesburg Central Library is 90 years old and holds precious memories for many Joburgers who have used its facilities at some point in their lives. Reminding people of what this facility has meant and still means for a thriving city sparked a strong sense, not just of nostalgia, but also of a need to take action .

• Bringing together the old and the new – the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation is one of the oldest civic bodies in the city, while the Johannesburg Crisis Alliance, formed in 2023 as a coalition of established civil society organisations, is only two years old. Joining together made more a powerful united front responding to a current shared problem in the city.

• Strong media and social media campaign – The efforts to save the library was widely publicised and supported across various social media platforms and by the media.

• Using prominent allies – For protest action the civil society bodies leaned on its members alongside prominent authors, academics and journalists who used their profile to raise awareness of the campaign to have the library reopened.

• Sustained action  - The success in getting the library reopened is a significant victory, but the civic organisations have vowed to continue their campaign to pressure the City of Johannesburg to fully reopen and resource other branch libraries throughout Joburg.

Acknowledgements

Author: FixLocal Reporter

Additional articles/ sources: Johannesburg Crisis Alliance 

Johannesburg Heritage Foundation 

Photograph: Rosebank Killarney Gazette