The Austrian Embassy recently donated German language books to the Department of Library Services at the University of Pretoria (UP). The official handover, which was held at the Merensky 2 Library on the Hatfield Campus, was led by the Austrian Embassy's Deputy Head of Mission, Mr Matthias Radosztics. 'Given the current situation, where universities are struggling with budget cuts, this is just a small contribution,' said Mr Radosztics.

Ms Lindiwe Soyizwapi, Deputy Director of the Department of Library Services, thanked the Embassy for their valuable contribution to the Library's collection. She also extended her gratitude to Prof Stephan Mühr from the Faculty of Humanities for facilitating the relationship between UP and the Embassy. Prof Mühr, from the German Language Unit in the Department of Modern European Languages, says that the Embassy asked beforehand for a list of books that the Library needed and expressed his delight at having received many of the titles on the list.

Over the past few years, the Austrian Embassy has provided valuable support to the German language programmes run by the University's Modern European Languages Department in the form of new library material. UP greatly values outside partnerships that assist it in providing a better service to its academic community.