National Library of South Africa

The National Library of South Africa (NLSA) is the primary resource for, and custodian of, South African documentary heritage, seeking to promote creative, effective and efficient universal access to information.

As a custodian and provider of the nation's key knowledge resources, the library is mandated by the National Library of South Africa Act to collect and preserve published documents and make them accessible, thus ensuring that knowledge is not lost to posterity and that information is available for research.

NLSA's collections contain a wealth of information, and include rare manuscripts, books published in South Africa, periodicals, government publications, official foreign publications, maps, technical reports, Africana and newspapers. Many of these are available on CD or microfilm, in digital format or accessible online.

It also hosts the NLSA Website [1] and the The Centre for the Book

The Centre for the Book

This is an outreach unit of the National Library of South Africa, intended to promote a culture of reading, writing and publishing in local languages and easy access to books for all.

The Centre for the Book coordinates book related activities nationally, such as book discussions, poetry readings, book launches, writing workshops and conferences. The Children’s Reading Centre provides opportunities to children from 0-7 years to read books for pleasure, write their own stories and be entertained by storytellers. The Centre also donates books and posters to schools, libraries, art centres and organisations involved in reading promotion.