Submission Type

Paper Abstract Submission

Symposium Selection

International influences

Keywords

innovation public community libraries Africa

Abstract

To overcome daily challenges, many public libraries in developing and transition economy countries are using innovative approaches to deliver modern library services to meet user needs. Professional interaction between public librarians in the Global North and the Global South is relatively rare, and so the richness of experiences and innovative practices in the Global South often stays out of the sight of the international networks. Research on public library practices in lower resource countries is also scarce.

In 2010, the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) commissioned a major study into perceptions of public libraries in Africa, and found that public libraries were seen as spaces for books and for children to do their homework. Very few people (including government officials) associated libraries with ICT or community development.

Informed by the findings of the study and with the goal of sparking service innovation in public libraries in Africa, we provided a number of small grants to public and community libraries in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Zambia. These one-year grants were given to public libraries to pilot innovative services that support community development in the areas of entrepreneurship, health, agriculture, education, employment, and address needs of socially and economically disadvantaged groups, such as women and girls, remote rural populations, unemployed youth, early school leavers and people living with disability. Although new service ideas submitted in project proposals might not have been innovative in the Global North, the challenge for our applicants was to implement them in their communities, where they had not been implemented before. Through these experiences of our grantee libraries, we developed a library service model, which is built on local definitions of innovation, tailoring of library services to specific target groups, engaging partners, and aiming at positive and measurable impact and sustainability. Examples of the supported projects include:

We’d like to bring this wealth of unique experience and examples of innovative practices in public libraries in Africa to Symposium 3 in order to foster and enrich dialogue about public librarianship. They bring what Global North libraries are starting to recognize: creative approaches to community outreach and engagement, needs assessment, user-centered library services and gathering evidence of impact of public and community libraries to local development.

References

Public Library Innovation programme. URL: https://www.eifl.net/programmes/public-library-innovation-programme

EIFL (2011). Perceptions of Public Libraries in Africa. URL: https://www.eifl.net/system/files/resources/201408/perceptions_of_public_libraries_in_africa_-_full_report_hi.pdf

EIFL-PLIP Grantees. URL: https://www.eifl.net/programme/public-library-innovation-programme/eifl-plip-grantees

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Cultivating innovation in African public libraries

To overcome daily challenges, many public libraries in developing and transition economy countries are using innovative approaches to deliver modern library services to meet user needs. Professional interaction between public librarians in the Global North and the Global South is relatively rare, and so the richness of experiences and innovative practices in the Global South often stays out of the sight of the international networks. Research on public library practices in lower resource countries is also scarce.

In 2010, the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) commissioned a major study into perceptions of public libraries in Africa, and found that public libraries were seen as spaces for books and for children to do their homework. Very few people (including government officials) associated libraries with ICT or community development.

Informed by the findings of the study and with the goal of sparking service innovation in public libraries in Africa, we provided a number of small grants to public and community libraries in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Zambia. These one-year grants were given to public libraries to pilot innovative services that support community development in the areas of entrepreneurship, health, agriculture, education, employment, and address needs of socially and economically disadvantaged groups, such as women and girls, remote rural populations, unemployed youth, early school leavers and people living with disability. Although new service ideas submitted in project proposals might not have been innovative in the Global North, the challenge for our applicants was to implement them in their communities, where they had not been implemented before. Through these experiences of our grantee libraries, we developed a library service model, which is built on local definitions of innovation, tailoring of library services to specific target groups, engaging partners, and aiming at positive and measurable impact and sustainability. Examples of the supported projects include:

We’d like to bring this wealth of unique experience and examples of innovative practices in public libraries in Africa to Symposium 3 in order to foster and enrich dialogue about public librarianship. They bring what Global North libraries are starting to recognize: creative approaches to community outreach and engagement, needs assessment, user-centered library services and gathering evidence of impact of public and community libraries to local development.

References

Public Library Innovation programme. URL: https://www.eifl.net/programmes/public-library-innovation-programme

EIFL (2011). Perceptions of Public Libraries in Africa. URL: https://www.eifl.net/system/files/resources/201408/perceptions_of_public_libraries_in_africa_-_full_report_hi.pdf

EIFL-PLIP Grantees. URL: https://www.eifl.net/programme/public-library-innovation-programme/eifl-plip-grantees