The City of Cape Town’s Naziem Hardy is the new deputy chairperson of the National Council for Library and Information Services (NCLIS), a statutory body established in terms of the NCLIS Act, and is there to advise the national ministers of several departments.
“The Council has the ability to influence decisions and perspectives on various library related matters. Public libraries have always suffered from a lack of will to be advocated for, as well as being advocated about. In terms of the City’s libraries, having someone be part of this council will elevate the department and the work it does. While I was selected not for the organisation I work for, my career at the City has had a huge impact on the way that I approach libraries in terms of my thinking and in many ways this cannot be easily separated from each other,” said Hardy.
32 years ago
He started at the City 32 years ago as a library assistant at Adriaanse Library, moved to Westridge Library as a librarian with his first senior position as Librarian in Charge at Valhalla Park Library in 1996.
In 2005, his library career ‘took a sho’t left’ when he was offered and accepted the position as Marketing and Research Officer in the then new City of Cape Town, where he stayed until 2017.
Hardy later stepped into the role of Sub-Area Head within Library and Information Services, before transitioning to the collection development unit’s acquisitions section, where he still finds himself today. His appointment strengthens the voice of public libraries at national level.
Hardy hails from Crawford, and believes libraries continue to be important despite the ever continuing leaps in technology. “We continue to embrace these challenges and adapt to them, use them and continue to find ways to benefit our communities by making optimal use of these technologies. The role of libraries and librarians have always been to be arbiters of information, and in an age of mis- and disinformation, that role is more crucial than ever before. Libraries are also continuously meeting their communities where they are located, and that speaks to the ever-evolving role of libraries. In a country where literacy is as dire as it is, the role of libraries, both in its traditional sense as well as in a more modern, technological sense, cannot be emphasised enough. We need to, and are, keeping up with technology as fast as we can and while we lag behind some Western countries, we are continuously finding new ways to meet these advances,” he said.
President
Hardy is also a past president of the Library and Information Association of South Africa.
Mayco member for community services and health, Francine Higham, congratulated him on the achievement. “Our libraries remain popular spaces and beacons for learning, research and social interaction in communities. It is heartening to know that Naziem will continue to champion these facilities that are crucial to our children’s literacy, education and growth. I am proud of his accomplishment and have no doubt he will keep on promoting the value of libraries and underscore their importance,” said Higham.
