Many of the most precious records housed at the building may have been protected at lower levels by the library’s fire doors, but huge collections of literature and records may have been destroyed.
Named for the bequest of John William Jagger, an England-born tycoon and politician, who once served as Minister of Railways and Harbour in the cabinet of Prime Minister Jan Smuts, the Jagger library and reading room is home to a number of prominent archival collections. This includes parts of the 65 000-volume-strong African Studies collection and the African Film collection. The library may include parts of UCT’s government publications archive, and the School Textbook Collection.