UCT Libraries

When the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Jagger Library burnt to the ground in April 2021, there was no question that it would be restored. However, instead of embarking on the usual closed tender process, the UCT campus and wider Cape Town

The COVID-19 pandemic and the Jagger Library fire are two unprecedented situations that foreground the latest Library Annual Report. Snapshots of the salvage and recovery operations and our teaching and learning efforts are also shared.

The compilation of a two-year report provided an opportunity to reflect on our ability to migrate from functioning as a contact-based academic library in 2019 to a virtual library service when confronted with the global COVID-19 pandemic.