J W Jagger Building

UCT’s Special Collections are internationally-renowned Africana and other research resources, consisting of extensive collections of monographs, periodicals, ephemera, pamphlets, videos, sound recordings, maps, conference papers, and newspapers.

Housed in the J W Jagger Building (the south wing of the Chancellor Oppenheimer Library), the Collections are made available to users in a magnificent reading room which is currently being restored to its original historic condition.

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Established in 1953, the African Studies Library (as it was then known) largely owed its origin to the efforts of Mr R F M Immelman, University Librarian from 1940 to 1970, for whom the collection of African and Southern African material was a particular focus.  He acquired (often by donation) many valuable materials, including manuscript materials such as the C. Louis Leipoldt Collection and the Bleek & Lloyd Collection of Bushman Materials.  It was due to Mr Immelman’s indefatigable collection-building that Harry Oppenheimer recognized the worth of the Africana material at UCT and generously donated funds for the establishment of the University’s Centre for African Studies, and for the development of the African Studies Library’s collections.

Read more about the history of UCT Libraries.

Special Collections Reading Room