The Special Collections Unit at the Merensky 2 Library has undergone a security upgrade, following an assessment carried out by Security Services. Part of this upgrade is the implementation of card access control at both the main entrance to Special Collections and the entrance to the staff area. All University of Pretoria staff and students can enter and exit the Reading Room by tapping their cards, while the staff area is accessible only to Library staff.

The Special Collections Unit plays a stewardship role in the acquisition and preservation of the Library's rare and valuable information resources, making them accessible to students, staff and researchers, as well as safeguarding them for future generations. Our resources can only be used in the Reading Room and may not be checked out. For this reason, it is important that access to our collections can be controlled and monitored. This also forms part of ensuring the preservation of these rare and valuable resources.

This new access control system is not intended to hinder visitors to our collections. We welcome everyone to use our collections. However, we do want to make sure that our collections will still be here and usable in another hundred years and beyond, and increased security and access control is just one way in which we can achieve this goal.

We also have items from our collections on display in our Reading Room. These displays change regularly, so we encourage all staff and students to pop in during a free moment and discover the fascinating items we have in our collections.

Entrance to Special Collections on Level 5 of Merensky 2.

Card access control at the entrance to the Rerading Room.

Special Collections is located on level 5 of the Merensky 2 Library. For further information please contact Nikki Haw, senior coordinator of the Special Collections Unit at [email protected]