| Library Name: | UCT Libraries |
| Country: | South Africa |
| Type: | Academic library |
| Established: | 1905 |
| Location: | Rondebosch, Cape Town |
| Coordinates: | -33.9576°N 18.4603°W |
| Num Branches: | 7 |
| Collection Size: | 1,2 million volumes, over 72,000 e-journals, over 28,500 print journals[1] |
| Director: | Ujala Satgoor |
| Website: | UCT Libraries |
University of Cape Town Libraries (UCT Libraries) is the library system of the University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa.
The library system holds roughly 1.2 million print volumes and over 100,500 print and online journal subscriptions. An Africana research collection can be found in the Special Collections Division and consists of numerous monographs, periodicals, ephemera and multimedia sources.[2]
UCT Libraries are specialists in subject areas including African Studies, Commerce, Centre for Higher Education Development, Engineering and the Built Environment, Government Publications, Health Sciences, Humanities, Law and Science.[3]
UCT Libraries comprises eight libraries located across various campuses of UCT. Chancellor Oppenheimer Library, also known as the "Main Library", is located in the centre of UCT's upper campus, serving the Science, Engineering, Commerce and Humanities faculties and the Centre for Higher Education Development. Branch libraries are found near to the faculties which they service.
The founders of the South African College expressed the need for a college library for their students in 1829.[4] The establishment of the college library was made possible through donations from residents of Cape Town and prominent figures in the society of the time.
Professor W.S. Logeman,a multilingual philologist at the then South African College (SAC) was the founder of what became the University Library.[5] From 1905 to 1920, Logeman was appointed Honorary Librarian and became the first chairman of the University Library.[6] To commemorate his contribution in the founding of the university's library system, the Logeman Reading Room within the Hiddingh Hall Library was established in 1967.
When Hiddingh Memorial Hall opened in 1911, the ground floor became the home of the College Library, the first purpose-built library of the South African College.[7] The Logeman Reading Room opened inside Hiddingh Hall Library in 1967 to commemorate Logeman's contribution to the founding of the university library.
In April 2021 the Special Collections Library was destroyed by a wildfire[8] resulting in the loss of many of the 1,300 collections and over 85,000 books and other items held there.[8]
The Manuscripts and Archives Department collects primary source material of historical value for use by the academic community and other researchers. It was housed in the Jagger Reading Room of UCT Libraries which was destroyed by a wildfire on Sunday 18 April 2021. Since the Libraries are still assessing the damage and loss, the library holdings for Special Collections (African Studies Library, Government Publications, Rare Books and Manuscripts) may no longer be accurate.