Before 1994 education in South Africa was divided along racial lines. There were separate departments of education for whites, coloureds (people of mixed decent), Indians (people of East Indian decent), and blacks (black Africans). Education for white children was much better funded than any of the others. The quality of the education that white children enjoyed was also much better as schools were better equipped, teachers were better qualified and classes were smaller. This inequality also applied to school library provision. All white schools had well-equipped libraries and full-time teacher-librarians. 1994 saw the first democratic elections in South Africa. For the first time, a government representing the majority of the people of the country was in power. It was a heady time. Education was completely restructured with the aim of providing quality education for all. From 2006 schools were encouraged to use 10% of the budget allocated by the department for learning and teaching support material (LTSM) to acquire school library resources, but this was not formalised. It was done in some districts and schools, but not in most. Finally, in 2007, formal notice was given to schools to spend this money on school library resources. This resulted in a revitalisation of school libraries in the province. This, and the hard work of the district library facilitators in encouraging and motivating schools, probably accounts for the relatively favourable situation in Gauteng with regard to school libraries. Gauteng is the economic hub of South Africa and all of the nine official languages plus many others from Africa and abroad are found in schools. This experience illustrates how the struggle for the provision of school library resources unfolded in a rapidly changing environment, where there is little understanding of the role and importance of school libraries, and is achieving more success that was initially thought possible. Although funding for school library resources in Gauteng has only been formalised for three years, most schools are acquiring library resources and many schools have been motivated to set up or revitalise libraries.