During the 1980s, libraries in South Africa were caught up in the turbulence of the anti-aparteid struggle. Librarians and readers responded in unusual and constructive ways to the oppressive political circumstances and state censorship of the period. As reading became subversive, libraries became more than just a place for books. Many librarians and readers acted as agents of social change. They should be remembered n the history of the struggle that created the modern South African state.