Staff Reporter- 20 June 2023

Melanie Dismore (Library Manager – Tabita Care Centre, Vereeniging), Prof. Christel Marais and Dr Karien du Bruyn

On Friday, 16 June 2023, the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) officially donated a plaque to the Tabita Care Centre in Vereeniging to celebrate the first anniversary of the library.

A multidisciplinary collaborative initiative between academic staff from VUT’s Human Resources Management (HRM) department and the Gold Fields Library who joined forces in 2022, culminating in a well-resourced facility available to all residents. This project supports adult literacy and lifelong learning while it is also aligned with the United Nations’ global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The shared vision of both institutions towards improving adult literacy provides an impetus to a continuously expanding resource collection with ample opportunities for future expansions. VUT’s engagement with the Tabita Care Center provides fertile ground for future Socially Engaged Scholarship (SES) projects across faculties and research focus areas.

Confluence to celebrations on the day was residents’ reflections on the value and implications of a well-equipped library on site. Popular reading material currently includes poetry, religion, medicine, dictionaries, encyclopedias, crossword puzzles and magazines. Residents contemplated their favourite authors and suggested additional books from Leslie Pearse, Wilber Smith, Karen Kingsbury, Dean Koontz, and Danielle Steel. The library manager thanked VUT for “giving us this wonderful blessing and gift”. Several residents also referred to “a top library”, allowing them to learn and study.

A special note of appreciation goes out to the Vaal Mall and CUM Books in Vanderbijlpark, VUT’s Advancement and Internationalisation department and community members around the Vaal who have generously donated books and stationery since the inception of the facility in 2022.