Dr Blade Nzimande commended Rhodes

The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande commended Rhodes University for building a new library in this digital age. The new library aims to support the institutional goals to sustain and enhance research culture at Rhodes. 

Speaking at the opening of the new library at Rhodes on Thursday, 4 November, Dr Nzimande said the importance of a top quality library, which combines access to electronic and printed resources, and space for study, for both academic education and research, cannot be understated. “Good libraries are at the heart of knowledge building and are a key of continued investment for universities,” he said.

Dr Nzimande said that a strong library contributes to strengthening teaching quality, high quality research output and can benefit every student, researcher and academic. “I hope that this new library will be a central station for knowledge building at Rhodes University,” he said.

The Department of Higher Education and Training recognises and stresses the importance of research in South African Universities. It has noted an increase in research output by more than 35% across the sector since the introduction of the new research output policy.

Dr Nzimande praised Rhodes for playing a vital role in contributing to South Africa’s quality research output. “In fact, despite its size, Rhodes University contributes almost 4% of total output in the higher education system and has consistently produced above the expected norm over the past five years. This means that Rhodes academics have a high per capital research output. I have no doubt that the improvement of the library will allow this output to continue,” he added. He hopes that the new library will support the continuation of positive growth in research.

The Minister has made a commitment to the President to work towards certain key outcomes such as to improve teaching and learning and to increase postgraduate student numbers. He believes that Rhodes is an important contributor to teaching and research outputs.

Dr Nzimande was happy that Rhodes has accommodated users with disabilities when designing the new library. “This is an area which I am particularly interested in as a focus on students and staff with disabilities is an area which I have asked the Department of Higher Education and Training to highlight,” he said.

The new extension has almost doubled the size of the library with an additional 4500 square metres added on.

The library now has more study space, a 24-hour access reading room, group study rooms, an Information Commons for dedicated and supported online research and the Carnegie Research Commons for senior postgraduate students and academic staff. It also offers collections arranged in Faculty sections: Science & Pharmacy, Commerce and Humanities & Education.

An interesting design feature of the new building is the main staircase, which is a steel structure suspended from the roof with rods. The building itself is regarded as a high-tech building, fully computerised and designed to minimise energy usage.

The multi-million rand Library Building Expansion Project was started in September 2008 and it has taken just over two years to complete.

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Photo Gallery

Picture by Sophie Smith from left to right: Director of Library Services, Ms Gwenda Thomas, Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande and Rhodes University Vice-Chancellor, Dr Saleem Badat.