DON AFRICANA CENTRAL REFERENCE LIBRARY A BRIEF OVERVIEW

DON AFRICANA CENTRAL REFERENCE LIBRARY : A BRIEF OVERVIEW

BACKGROUND It was named after David Don who was born in Scotland in 1840, settling in Natal 1881. He set up a library for his collection of books, pamphlets, newspapers, maps and manuscripts. After he died in 1906, his Africana collection was loaned to Durban Public Library in 1909. Later, in 1916, his family donated the entire collection dating back to the early 16 th century to the library. These 4 000 items now form the nucleus of the Don Africana.

Resources and services avail. ACADEMIC BOOKS REFERENCE MATERIAL HISTORIC – AFRICANA MATERIAL SA HISTORY and legal publications INDEGENOUS Languages MATERIAL ON LINE DATABASES NEWSPAPER ROOM INTERNET ROOMS AND WIRELESS CONNECTION MAGAZINE AREA

DON AFRICANA SECTION The Don Africana Collection is a specialist reference collection of both rare and current Africana material. Consists of books, pamphlets, maps, journals, newspaper cuttings, government publications and microfilms. over 50 000 catalogued items and many journals, some of which have yet to be recorded on the computer catalogue. Rare and valuable works such as French and Italian editions dated 1550 and 1556 of "The History and Description of Africa" by Leo Africanus.

BIBLE FOUND IN 1850

. . continued The emphasis is on botany, zoology, discovery and exploration, history and anthropology in Africa South of the Sahara. rare and contemporary maps which chronicle the cartography of Africa Government Publications include law reports, statutes, government gazettes, Bills, Government Department annual, Commission Reports, debates of the Senate and National Assembly (Hansard), etc. newspapers on microfilm, while a selection of early Natal newspapers is in the original form. A wide range of South African journals is available.

Bound newspapers from 1800’s

Government publications from the 1800 s

The Reference Section and Reading Area

LAW REPORTS

The Hillier Shakespeare Collection approximately 55 oo books, is one of the biggest collections of Shakespeare in the Southern Hemisphere. Holds both rare books and contemporary material by or about Shakespeare and his works.

MAGAZINE READING AREA

MICROFILMED NEWSPAPERS

Newspaper Reading Area and Cyber Zones:

Opening hrs: weekdays-09: 00 am -17: 00 pm Saturdays-08: 30 am -12. 30 pm CONTACT DETAILS 10 th floor Liberty Towers, Samora Machel St 031 322 4410/13/15/16/17 Email. Central. Reference. Library 05@durban. gov. za Or email the Senior Librarian nomvuyo. mkhulisi@durban. gov. za