The City of Johannesburg Library has announced the winners to their hotly contested essay writing competition. The competition which ran over the period of May and June received over 100 essays from students. The winning essay came from Hloziwe Perry Hlophe whose essay explores how access to the e-learning centre at the library has allowed her to learn, grow and save lots of money.

You can read her essay here:

The city of Joburg libraries has introduced an innovative initiative which promises positive changes in my learning and development endeavours. Through e-learning @ the library, young people can now be able to access computers with free internet, get free Wi-fi and twelve e-learning classrooms, all of which leads to ease of access to skills and training opportunities. I rate the e-learning @ your library highly mostly because it comes at an opportune time where internet and technology are central to all social and economic activity with which I get exposure to academic and career pathways.

Free wi-fi is one of the benefits I now enjoy because of e-learning @ your library. Since this progressive initiative was designed to be a gateway to information and development services, I think it is safe to say that free wi-fi has provided much-needed relief in terms of data and airtime affordability. I can now interact on social networks without thinking about financial implications. Access to free wi-fi has also enabled me to save a few pennies I used on data, now I can channel that money on other areas that benefit my well-being. The 500 300 MB of data I get daily is more than enough for me to source work and training opportunities, it also affords me the chance to exhaust all avenues of research in my quest for academic excellence. I do all this conveniently on my phone.

Thanks to e-learning @ your library I can now get access to computers with free internet. Gone are those days of waiting on long ques in internet cafe’s just to email my CV or let alone create one. I cannot stop to Imagine the financial relief e-learning @ your library has had on my search for employment, nowadays it costs about R12.00 per page if you make a CV and by then you have not even considered the plus-minus R14 to send that fax which is yet to be determined by area code. All those costs are of course curbed by the e-learning service of access to free computers with internet.

I have even enrolled for an online course (Web Design) which has helped me advance my skills, learn and develop career-wise so as to better position myself in the market for employment.

Come to think of it I never had an e-mail address before I entered one of the twelve e-learning classrooms at the library, for real I owned a library card long before I had an e-mail address which goes to show that indeed ‘’Happiness is having a library card’’, as the City of Joburg libraries states. I learnt from basic to advanced computer skills, learnt how to create my own web page and of course my own e-mail address all in the e-learning classroom. Through this service, I have grown, not only academically but in a holistic way, in as much as it is a classroom it is also social platform where I interact with other humans apart from computers which helps me learn more about myself especially my areas of development. The classes may be a well of gen but not only limited to that.

It is amazing how e-learning @ your library and the services thereof has brought me closer to realizing the power of the internet, I can now access e-resources and e-books which honestly is a new source of acquiring information and knowledge to me. I spent a lot of time on one search engine that will be filled with adverts and distracting links but not the information I require at once.
I can now download e-books at ease which helps me a lot because I can read them on my phone or tablet at my convenience.

This has also added to my desire of being an active reader, the e-resources and e-books help in a great way because a smartphone and tablet are portable I can read anytime anywhere. This, in my case is a good substitute to carrying a bag full of books daily.

E-learning @ your library through its services has given us a platform to acquire meaningful knowledge even at a fundamental level, the foundation phase so to speak. The techno-literacy service is very important because above all it is two-fold, it speaks to literacy from the reading point of view and the exposure to technology, its devices and how to use them accurately to your benefit. I have seen change, not only on myself but all my fellow City of Joburg Library card bearing colleagues.