Pretoria — A state-of-the-art R300 million new home for the National Library of South Africa, which will accommodate 1 300 users, is to open in August in Pretoria.

The construction of the 33 000 square metre building, which will be launched by Arts and Culture Minister, Pallo Jordaan, started in January 2005.

The facility's 14 700 square metre storage space will preserve the quality of the reading material such as newspapers dating back to the late 1800s.

The design of the new building includes air-conditioning systems, which will keep temperatures at an 18 degrees Celsius and 50 percent humidity within the storage stacks rooms.

The building was designed as a joint venture between Architect Jeremie Malan, Impendulo and Gandhi Maseko Architects, and is being implemented by the Department of Public Works.

Mr Jordaan said the modern glass and brick building facility would showcase the dynamic future of the National Library of South Africa.

"We believe that the new building will revitalise the City of Tshwane through providing a much needed investment of human resource and other future activities," he said.

The National Library was established in 1999 following the merger of the former state library in Pretoria and the then South African library in Cape Town.

Presently, the National Library is the custodian of South Africa's documentary heritage and it has a library collection of over three million items from legal deposits and donations.

The library is the main resource centre for academics, researchers, students as well as the general members of the community.

The new building will store more than 3.5 million documents over the next twenty years.

On 7 August, Mr Jordaan will also launch the Timbuktu script and scholarship exhibition at the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town.

The exhibition is an integral part of the South Africa-Mali project which was initiated by President, Thabo Mbeki in 2002.

"As a New Partnership for Africa's Development flagship cultural project, the collaborative programme between South Africa and Mali seeks to conserve the important collection of manuscripts held at the Ahmed Baba institute of Higher Islamic Studies in Timbuktu," he said.

Co-hosted by the department and the Iziko Museums of Cape Town it will highlight the heritage value of the manuscripts especially in their conservation.

Significantly, the exhibition will travel to all the major cities countrywide.

"It is very important for our people to be given the opportunity to view a diversity of manuscripts from Timbuktu.

"Various writing materials and subjects are included, revealing a multifaceted history of reading and writing in Africa," said Minister Jordan.