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Revitalisation of information and library services to the
public in Africa
Goals
The objectives of INASP's programme in support of Public
Library Revitalisation in Africa are to:
- To promote in-country
capacity building in information access and dissemination
- To encourage, strengthen
and support fledgling and new initiatives that will assist library and
information professionals to meet the challenges of their services
- To provide technical
assistance
INASP is guided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s International
Development programme.
Activities
The above goals are met through a programme of support with
four components:
Technical Assistance and Sector Building
Technical assistance and sector building, including briefings and
information to the Carnegie Corporation
Three areas of activity are:
- To provide regular briefing
and information to the Carnegie Corporation
- To provide appraisal and
evaluation of proposals as requested
- To monitor the progress of
the programme
As a network, INASP strives to maximise the synergy between
partners. Through the sharing of experience and facilitation or promotion of
initiatives it works to increase the value-added element of collaborative
efforts. INASP provides support and technical assistance in response to
requests put forward, and will continue to do so as the individual programmes
move into implementation.
Research and development activities
Capacity building, research and training
Current research and development projects which support the interest areas of
the public library services and the Carnegie Corporation are:
•
Use of electronic information and communication technology (ICT)
'Using the Internet' workshops are facilitated by INASP and a wide range of
resources are available on the website. Both Botswana and
Kenya had requested INASP to facilitate `Using the Internet' workshops for
their national library systems during 2002. These were held during June 2003 ,
facilitated by presenters from the local universities with materials and input
from INASP, and the participants have all responded very positively. As
is usual with INASP workshops, a “significant mass” of staff from each system
were trained, and are now in a position to pass their knowledge to others in
the workplace. Already, a workshop is planned in Francistown, Botswana, as a
follow on from the first one. Participants were particularly impressed by
the identification of the wealth of materials available on the Internet to
Public Librarians.
• The Book Chain in Africa
Throughout 2001, grantees commented that they found it incredibly difficult
to obtain information about publishers, booksellers and various other players
in the book community. This gap in information coincided with recommendations
from a workshop for African public librarians hosted by the French Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in Kenya. INASP was invited to compile a directory and database
to cover `book chain' in Anglophone Africa. This unique piece of work,
undertaken by a large team of African researchers, is now available in printed
CD ROM and online versions. This includes country profiles complemented by
extensive directory sections for 18 countries in Anglophone Africa.
• Income
Generation
Following the request from KNLS for INASP to prepare a compilation of
experience, all public library systems in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi,
Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe were
invited to contribute case studies on income generation in their public
libraries. While all were invited, some felt they did not have any income
generating activities about which to report. The research has now been
published and library systems having contacted INASP to comment on the
usefulness of this small volume. It is expected that these case studies can
form the basis for discussion at library system level, and also at national and
regional library association events.
• Book Aid International facilitated workshops on Monitoring and Evaluation and
on Advocacy and Lobbying with the Botswana National Library Service in May and
June 2002 on INASP's behalf. Similar workshops were held for the Kenya National
Library Service (KNLS), in February 2003. The materials produced during the
Botswana workshop have been complied by Book Aid International and are
available on the INASP web site at http://www.inasp.info/lsp/libraries/programmes.html
under Botswana.
Development
assistance to library associations
INASP continues to work with regional professional associations in Africa. This has included assistance to a number of public librarians from the English speaking countries of West Africa to attend the meetings of WALA in Accra, Ghana in September 2001 and November 2003 and of Eastern and Central Africa to SCECSAL in Johannesburg, South Africa in April 2002. INASP also organised afternoon workshops on Reader Development and Reading Promotion in Public Libraries at SCECSAL in April 2002 and WALA in 2003.
Dissemination
of information
Information is disseminated through the INASP web page, and articles and news
items have been submitted to various professional journals. Information
Development will be running a regular column of INASP News. Information about
the programme is also communicated through participation at meetings, workshops
and conferences. As information becomes available and there is a recognised
need to impart it, pamphlet type publications on reader development, reading
promotion and project implementation could be considered.
The INASP Newsletter
provides regular reports on the progress of the programme.
The programme presently gives particular focus to working with the national and
public libraries in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, South
Africa, Uganda and Zambia. These countries are all involved in the Carnegie
Public Library Revitalisation Program. Progress in this Program to date
includes the awarding of grants by the Carnegie Corporation of New York for the
development of the national library services in Botswana and Kenya, and support
to LIASA the Library and Information
Association of South Africa as well as grants to a three metropolitan
library services and three provincial library services in South Africa. Links
will be provided from the INASP websites to the web sites for each of the
Program activities as soon as these are available.
Meetings and workshops
Participation
at IFLA
INASP is working jointly with the IFLA Africa
Regional Section in arranging for librarians from Africa to attend World
Library and Information Congress: 69th IFLA General Conference and Council.
Materials about and produced by the Grantees of the Carnegie Corporation of New
York Public Library Revitalisation programme will be displayed in several
Regional Section meetings during the Conference.
Representatives of
each project will meet on 5th August 2003 in Berlin, while they were
attending the conference. The aim of this meeting is to update others on
previous work on the projects, to share experiences, and to plan future
activities. The reports given by each Grantee at the previous meeting in 2002
are included under individual
programmes.
From Proposal
to Action: strategies for implementation
Held in the afternoon of 14 April 2002, the target group was librarians who had
received or were about to receive grants from the Carnegie Corporation. Its aim
was to assist these librarians in implementing what they had proposed.
Organized by INASP, the 3-hour workshop was facilitated by Amanda Maree of
Limani Consulting, South Africa.
The workshop covered three project phases: set up, implementation and closure.
Most of the time was spent on implementation: devising an action plans,
decision making, identification of risks, opportunities and issues, monitoring
(including revising and changing the plan) and final evaluation. Participants
took part in group work, applying the principles learnt to their own project.
Although time was short, participants felt that the workshop had been very
useful and had come at an opportune time. A booklet, covering the topics
discussed and containing invaluable charts and checklists, was given to each
participant.
Areas highlighted for consideration during
2002/2003:
Through meetings or communication with PLR grantees, the
following areas have already been noted as possibilities for inclusion in the
work plan for 2002/2003:
- Manuals and/or guidelines
in `Monitoring and Evaluation' and `Advocacy and Lobbying' to be amended
and updated following workshops with the Kenya National Library Service
and available for publication and mounted on web sites during 2003.
- Publication of case studies
on income generation in public libraries in Africa, which can then form
the basis of discussion and workshops.
- Library systems able to
utilise ICT in new and creative ways with increased numbers of trainers
and number of librarians trained in Internet use, possibly through the
`Using the Internet' workshops; librarians able to create web pages for
their library services.
- Further enhanced and
strengthened regional associations reaching a point of
self-sustainability.
- National library
association workshops held in Kenya and at least three other countries.
- National library
associations capable of sustaining newsletter production.
- Publication of a collection
of case studies on reader development.
- Development of performance
indicators for library systems, to be used as the basis of a comparative
study on performance measurement.
- Continuing and increasing
individual cooperation with Carnegie's Public Revitalisation projects in
Botswana and Kenya as they move into implementation
INASP invites national and public librarians in Botswana,
Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia to comment on the
existing projects and to propose additional areas where they feel that
partnership and collaboration would be useful.
Contact: Anne Powell [email protected]
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