On Sunday 26 March, a delegation of Belgian academics visited UCT Libraries with a focus on the Jagger restoration project. They were hosted by UCT Interim Vice-Chancellor, Emeritus Professor Daya Reddy and the Libraries Executive Director, Ujala Satgoor.

The delegation included representatives, led by Rector Luc Sels, from KU Leuven which made a donation of €25 000 in 2022 towards our recovery efforts. This was in addition to a €25 000 donation from the Govt of Flanders. KU Leuven was one of the first universities to offer assistance in digitisation and capacity building, which we will be exploring in the future.

The delegation visited the Jagger site on upper campus, led by Ujala Satgoor and Nikki Crowster, Director: Information Systems and Resources. Thereafter, they toured Birkdale 3 (previously Maitland House II) where Michal Singer, Principal Archivist: Primary Collections and Mandy Noble,  Principal Librarian: Published Collections, spoke about the recovery and restoration efforts.