Contact Artefacts please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.	Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon		Kimberley Public Library - Kimberley Africana Library Kimberley, Northern Cape Richard Ernest WRIGHT: Architect Daniel Westwood GREATBATCH: Architect 1899

Date: 1887 Type: Library Status: Extant Street: 63 Dutoitspan Road   Click to view large map Coordinates: 28°44'25.47" S 24°45'55.67" E Alt: 1231m

One of the oldest public buildings in Kimberley. The library was opened on 23 July 1887, which came about after the discovery of diamonds in Kimberley in 1871. At a meeting of the Kimberley Public Library Committee held on 6 May 1886, the architect RE Wright produced a rough sketch prepared by a member of his staff JR Elton, of the proposed new Library. Wright is given due recognition for the role he played during the construction of the Library. Extensions by Greatbatch in 1899. To alleviate congestion, a site on the perimeter of the Civic Centre was earmarked for a new Library and the intention was that building operations would commence before the end of 1965. However these optimistic predictions were frustrated by Government building restrictions announced in December 1964 and exacerbated by an acute shortage of municipal architectural staff (KPL Annual Report, 1966). The library was restored and refurbished between 1984 and 1986 as an exclusively Africana research library. In February 1990 the building was declared a National Monument. Summary by Paul v d Merwe from: RJ Holloway (2009): The history and development of the Kimberley Africana Library and its relationship with the Kimberley Public Library.