By S. Munshi
and T. Munsamy
Director
of UKZN Libraries
Mrs Joyce
Myeza
From the outside, the Library is
an architectural masterpiece and once inside, you immediately know you have
stepped into a Library due to the organizational layout. According
to Albert Einstein, “The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the
location of the library.” When Borges wrote “Paradise is a library, not a
garden” he captured the concept of the library as a palace for the mind,
connecting readers to the generations of works – from maps, manuscripts and
incunabula to the new online resources of today. If the physical form is
the key to our identity, the question arises as to what our collections should
be in such times of change. Many of these trends reflect fundamental changes in
scholarly communication in the networked age that contribute to scholarship,
often in anticipation of shifts in the academy and changes in scholarly
communication.
Therefore, we can assume that the main foundation
and pillar of any institution is its Library. Our Library has played and will
continue to play its role despite the shortage of funds and any shortcomings compounded
by the lawlessness of students - as we found out from the Director of our libraries,
Mrs Joyce Myeza.
Mrs Joyce Myeza is a family woman with
3 children. She did her first degree at UNISA where she obtained her
BA and later enrolled at UKZN for a Postgraduate Diploma in
Information Studies, and an Honours degree, and later Master of Information
Science at Simmons College, Boston, MA (USA). In terms of experience, she has
worked for about 23 years in the library field. She joined UKZN library in
January 2010 and became director of library services in 2015. She is currently
registered for a PhD.
Question: Steps taken or to be taken to improve the
library facilities.
Joyce: Firstly, I would like to
acknowledge what previous library leaders have done, starting from the segregated
University of Westville and the University of Natal. UKZN has been lucky in
terms of having people who have been capable of putting the library on the map
and making people aware of the facilities. The biggest challenge currently, is
that the library is an ever evolving entity, constant change needs to occur to meet
the needs of users. In order to improve, funding is required, however as with
years gone by and the restructuring of the University, budgets are now tight. Modern
technology and infrastructure is needed to improve.
Question: Future development in the years to come.
Joyce: Making sure that the
infrastructure is in line with the university strategy is a priority for the
future. Focus on staff development is needed as well as; currently not enough
attention is being placed on this. Digitization is the future and that needs to
be catered for as well.
Question: Misuse of library facilities by students
and noise levels in the library.
Joyce: We are dealing with different
kinds of users at the library. We are now in a different era to when I was a
student. Back then we were taught to be quiet, disciplined and follow orders.
Today’s era of users is different and the library may need to be flexible when
dealing with them. I do not believe disciplinary action will come back and if
it ever did return I cannot envisage it being done effectively. With regards to
the noise levels, recent studies have shown that most students prefer to learn
in a noisy environment. We as staff are not here to change students, we need to
accept them for who they are and adapt our services to cater for all types of
students. Currently, the third floor (EG Malherbe library) is an area where
students can partake in conversations and this area needs to be improved upon
as students are still using other floors for loud conversations.
With new infrastructure, the culture at the library
will change and students will need to adhere to it and realise that there are
designated areas for them. These areas will be floors where they can have group
discussions and meetings and a place to eat. The other floors will be for
studying purposes and silence will be required on these floors at all times.
Question: Shortage of books and library budget.
Joyce: To my knowledge, the buying of
books and the book budget is always healthy. If shortages of books do occur, it
could be a result of miscommunication between particular college librarians as
opposed to a limited budget.
Question: Steps taken in assisting the physically
challenged student.
Joyce: Thus
far the
steps taken have included the re-allocation of spaces for students who are
physically challenged. Level three of the Westville campus library have a
designated an area for these students to use. We are in contact with the
disability unit to try and get the numbers at the beginning of each year to
know exactly how many physically challenged students there are at each campus.
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