Homevale library crumbles

THE HOMEVALE community in Kimberley is raising red flags over the dire state of the local library situated on 3rd Street - a once-vital centre of learning that now stands as a shell of its former self.

- DANIE VAN DER LITH

When the DFA visited the premises, it was hard to tell the building had ever been a library. There was no visible signage, no welcoming entrance, and nothing that whispered - let alone invited - “come in and learn.” Instead, a small, weary-looking structure greeted us, its windows covered in metal sheeting and its perimeter fence lined with broken and missing devil’s fork panels. It offered more a sense of abandonment than education.

One concerned community member spoke to the DFA and described a slow but steady decay. “This place has been a target for vandals over the years, and despite our repeated calls for help, there’s still no security presence here,” he said. “It’s like no one cares anymore.”

Inside, shelves lined with books still stand, offering a glimmer of purpose. But right next to them lay broken devil’s fork fence panels - not outside where they belong, but leaned up like forgotten debris against the shelves. “These have been here for a long time,” the resident pointed out. “No one has bothered to put them back. They were never replaced or repaired.”

Perhaps most shocking is the complete lack of water - a problem that has persisted since the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly four years ago.