Public Libraries and Development across Sub-Saharan Africa: Overcoming a Problem of Perception

Abstract

Public libraries and development organizations share many common goals that make them strong potential partners in the Global South. In spite of these commonalities, libraries are often overlooked as development partners. This is unfortunate because these partnerships could allow librarians to more fully and effectively participate in the development of their communities. This paper explores strategies that libraries might employ to make themselves more visible to development organizations. It does so through analysis of interviews with practitioners who have funded or implemented development projects across countries in Africa. We find that these practitioners are open to working more with libraries, but that it will take a lot of work on the part of public libraries to accomplish broad shifts in perception amongst development agencies. Collecting and openly sharing data on the output and impact of public libraries is a first step in this work, but these efforts must also be augmented through increased marketing and networking by libraries. Libraries need to build internal capacity to use data to drive advocacy efforts and attract funding from development donors.

State of public libraries in Morocco

“…Hence, supporting researchers in the LIS field, locally and internationally, can help unveil some issues that public libraries in Morocco suffer from and help to set new goals and roles more actively within the society. Advocacy for LIS studies and work for LIS: In order to make people aware of the existence of the field of LIS, it is vital to promote it, for the work of public libraries and librarians first, and then for the studies concerned with this field. As stated by Young et al . (2021), libraries in Africa lack visibility, and Morocco is among them.…”

“…Advocacy for LIS studies and work for LIS: In order to make people aware of the existence of the field of LIS, it is vital to promote it, for the work of public libraries and librarians first, and then for the studies concerned with this field. As stated by Young et al . (2021), libraries in Africa lack visibility, and Morocco is among them.…”

“…(5) Advocacy for LIS studies and work for LIS: In order to make people aware of the existence of the field of LIS, it is vital to promote it, for the work of public libraries and librarians first, and then for the studies concerned with this field. As stated by Young et al (2021), libraries in Africa lack visibility, and Morocco is among them. As such, in order to attract the interest of students for this field of studies and research, it is important to introduce it at an early stage for more study fields' options.…”

Digital tendencies in public libraries in Balochistan, Pakistan: issues and challenges

“…Future library workers would need to learn how to remove obstacles in digital library services for the improvement of these services (Chuang et al, 2019). Library culture in Pakistan needs to change, and it is essential to be better equipped with digital tools to keep up with this changing environment (Bowen-Chang and Hosein, 2019;Harland et al, 2017;Mwaniki, 2018;Young et al, 2021). The goal of the study is to examine current digital trends adopted by the public libraries in Balochistan and to find out challenges and potential solutions regarding digital trends from library users.…”

Establishing community and school libraries: African Library Project experience

“…According to the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) (2015), there are about 320,000 public libraries worldwide, many of which are in developing countries. Furthermore, the few available libraries are underfunded, resulting in the inadequate collection, infrastructure, staffing and service provision (Lynch et al , 2022; Young, 2021). This scenario undermines the fourth sustainable development goal, which aims to improve and provide quality education for all and promote lifelong learning opportunities (Lee, 2020).…”