Rhodes University Library
The History
Rhodes Library 1961
While we celebrate the new, it is good to look back and reflect on the previous incarnations of the Rhodes University Library. A Rhodes alumnus Sue van der Riet, who has carefully collated and compiled a Library history, makes the point that, “it is the nature of libraries to devour space,” and Rhodes has been no exception to this rule.
Read the full history, written by Sue van der Riet:
This lack of space, and the need to accommodate evolving patterns of use, has taken the University’s library on a circuitous route – from humble beginnings in a single room in the old Drostdy Building, more than a century ago, to the resplendent building now occupying the heart of the campus, and the title, fitting in so many ways, of ‘Rhodes University’s most intelligent building’.
A couple of years after the founding of Rhodes University College in 1904, a sizeable library collection already existed, thanks largely to a gift from HM Stationery Office of quarto volumes of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Gill College in Somerset East contributed material from the old University of the Cape of Good Hope, and very soon the Library had outgrown its single room in the Drostdy and moved to a small red brick building, described as squat and hideous, but with at least more room to house the ever-increasing collection. This took place in 1917, and the library remained there for some twenty years.
The end of the Great Depression saw the University able to build the centre portion of the Main Admin Block, and the library moved again, to the space under the clock tower.
A fortuitous visit in 1932 led to good fortune. Reverend Anson Phelps Stokes, sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, visited Rhodes University College and submitted a full report in which he expressed his admiration of Rhodes and his impression of the inadequacy of the library facilities. “I can think of few more appealing opportunities for library development in the Union than at Rhodes University College in Grahamstown,” Stokes wrote.
Five years later, when money was once again in short supply, this report brought a letter from the Carnegie Corporation with a proposal to grant a Carnegie Library Fellowship for one year, enabling a librarian to be trained in America and with the promise of a “substantial grant for the purchase of books.” This relationship is echoed today, with the Carnegie Research Commons a major feature of the new Library.
Library Fellow FG van der Riet was selected, returning after a year as the first professional Librarian of Rhodes University College. He remained in this post for the next 40 years. Described as a perfect gentleman and an outstanding scholar, under his stewardship the Library grew exponentially, receiving donations of many rare and valuable items.
Van der Riet, with some relief, escaped into retirement just as libraries began to make use of newly available technologies, and computers installed in the Library were an imminent event!
Once again the library was outgrowing its home under the clock tower, having annexed 13 classrooms and studies and the corridor serving them. The University Council afforded this a high priority and by March 1958 a site had been identified and purchased.
Previously the Grahamstown Tennis Club, it was surrounded by academic buildings and residences and regarded as the ideal site. Declared open by Lady Schonland, wife of the Chancellor, in 1961, it made use of a new modular design, which, along with the departure of some major collections such as the Law Library and the National English Literary Museum (NELM) to new homes, meant that it was a further fifty years before space constraints once again dictated the necessity of a new addition to the existing building.
Mrs Margaret Kenyon was appointed University Librarian after the departure of Mr Felix Ubogu to Wits in 2000. Kenyon, a much loved and respected member of the Library staff, oversaw many advances in her time, and she was particularly passionate about the need for an extension to the existing library. Her tragic death in August 2005 came as a terrible shock to all at the University. Just prior to her death, she had arranged for Geoff de Wet, Architect and Director of the Physical Planning Unit at UCT, to visit Rhodes.
The rest, as they say, is History. And today the magnificent Rhodes University Library Building stands as a testament to the vision of Margaret Kenyon, the tenacity of Gwenda Thomas and Jeanne Berger, as well as the Library Building Project Team. It is a beacon of knowledge to take Rhodes University and the Eastern Cape region forward into the 21st century.
Daily Dispatch, Wednesday, November 24, 2010, p.12
Feature writer: Jean Mckeown
Additional: Cathy Gush
Personal Librarian Programme
The Personal Librarian Programme aims to encourage Rhodes students to build relationships with Rhodes librarians who can provide personal learning support.
Your Personal Librarian is here to help you get the most out of your experience with the Library during your time at Rhodes University.
Each incoming 1st year student is assigned a personal librarian who will:
- Be your study partner
- Keep you informed
- Assist you with finding information for research assignments
- Help you when you are not sure where to start with your research
- Answer your questions about Library policies, procedures and services, such as RefWorks workshops etc.
- Direct you to relevant IT Support
Rhodes Library Services – Purpose Statement
The Rhodes University Library (RUL) has evolved into an attractive, well-resourced and popular facility that is designed to actively promote and support the research, teaching and learning endeavours of the University. The RUL, aligned to the RU faculties, provides customised services and products to undergraduates, post-graduates, staff, alumni and visiting scholars of each faculty.
All services are designed towards providing on & off-site access to global information and knowledge. The RUL is committed to building, maintaining and facilitating access to balanced and relevant information & knowledge collections in print and electronic formats; providing the necessary equipment and technologies to access and use all types of information; and facilitating access to national and international collections through inter-lending and reciprocal agreements. (Satgoor, U. 2012. Rhodes University Library Strategic Plan 2013 – 2015)
General Enquiries
Rhodes University Library
P.O. Box 184
Grahamstown
6140
South Africa
Delivery address:
Artillery road
Grahamstown
6139
Voice: +27 46 603-8436
Fax: +27 46 603-7310
E-mail: library@ru.ac.za
Loans Desk
Voice: +27 46 603-8463
Service Directory
Access Control
Tel: +27 46 603-8485
Acquisitions Department
Tel: +27 46 603-8467
Building Maintenance
Tel: +27 46 603-8485
E-mail: libbuildmaint@ru.ac.za
Cataloguing & Metadata
Tel: +27 46 603-8465
Circulation & Membership
Tel: +27 46 603-8463
E-mail: libloansupport@ru.ac.za
Digitisation & Repository Management
Tel: +27 46 603-8281
E-mail: digitalcommons@ru.ac.za
Electronic Resources Management
Tel: +27 46 603-7313
E-mail: libermsupport@ru.ac.za
Executive Management
Tel: +27 46 603-8436
E-mail: library@ru.ac.za
Faculty Liaison
Management: Tel: +27 46 603-8690
Science & Pharmacy: Tel: +27 46 603-8689
Commerce & Law: Tel: +27 46 603-8062
Humanities & Education: Tel: +27 46 603-7331
Humanities & Music: Tel: +27 46 603-7341
Financial Management
Tel: +27 46 603-8436
E-mail: library@ru.ac.za
Information Technology (IT) Support
Tel: + 27 46 603-8485
E-mail: libsupport@ru.ac.za
Interlibrary Loans
Tel: +27 46 603-8464
Information Commons & Information Literacy
Tel: +27 46 603-7305
Library Systems
Tel: +27 46 603-7306
Printing & Photocopying
Tel: + 27 46 603-8485
E-mail: libsupport@ru.ac.za
Technical Services
Tel: +27 46 603-8281
Web Services
Tel: +27 46 603-7306