Abstract: This article compares the status of libraries at three historically disadvantaged universities, three historically white universities, and the University of Botswana. The apartheid legacy is examined, and some recommendations are offered for closing the gap and upgrading library education in South Africa.
South Africa is celebrating its second year of majority rule after throwing off apartheid and the white–minority regime which was in power since 1948. National elections were held and an interim constitution was adopted. Its first democratically elected parliament and executive were elected in 1994 and most local governments were elected in 1995, although some local elections had to be postponed to May and June 1996. A permanent constitution has just taken effect, even though several provisions are being challenged in the courts. The birth of democracy provides an opportunity to evaluate and restructure all institutions, including libraries. The government has adopted a Reconstruction and Development Plan, and all processes are expected to be inclusive and transparent. The Working Group on Libraries and Information Technology (WGLIT) of the South African National Commission on Higher Education has recently issued its report [1]. I hope that the following observations from an interested outsider can contribute to the process of South African reconstruction and development.
I traveled to South Africa on a U.S. Information Agency–sponsored linkage between several departments of the University of Illinois and the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in Cape Town, Western Cape Province, from 13 May to 22 June 1996. This was my second trip to UWC; the first one was in January 1995 to help set up the linkage. The UWC is one of the Historically Disadvantaged Universities (HDUs) of South Africa, originally set up under apartheid as South Africa’s “Coloured” (mixed race) university. As such, it was and still is historically disadvantaged in resources and in many other ways. Rising expectations since majority rule, combined with the still low level of resources, have resulted in serious student protests that closed the university for two weeks just before my arrival. Such protests have recently swept similar institutions throughout the country.
As part of the linkage grant, I visited and talked with numerous librarians at two other Historically Disadvantaged Universities in South Africa, the University of Fort Hare, in Eastern Cape Province, and the University of Durban–Westville (UDW), in KwaZulu/Natal Province. UDW was originally set up under apartheid as South Africa’s “Indian” university. The campus was closed due to student and staff protests, but the library was open to faculty and staff. Fort Hare was established before the days of apartheid, but it became part of the apartheid structure as an African university after 1948. I also visited the libraries at these three Historically White Universities (HWUs): the University of Cape Town and the two campuses of the University of Natal, in Durban and in Pietermaritzburg. In addition, I went across the border to the University of Botswana Library, in Gaborone, and to public and special libraries in several cities.
It was wonderful to meet many dedicated librarians and other educators, and to see some of their successes and hear about future plans. However, the apartheid legacy will not be overturned easily, and there are still many battles ahead to provide anything like equal access to education for the majority of South Africans. The most hopeful sign is that there are so many people who are willing to fight these battles.
University of the Western Cape
The University of the Western Cape has an important history in the struggle against apartheid. The Council of the University adopted objectives in 1982 that rejected its apartheid heritage and status, and committed its administration to programs that would bridge the gap between its students and the requirements of university studies. This was a courageous act at the time. The prominent Mayibuye Centre, which serves as a liberation struggle archives and museum, has a home in the basement of the library building.
The apartheid legacy of underdevelopment is still very apparent. Furthermore, an unexpected consequence of the political opening under majority rule is that many of the best people have left the University for positions in the government, NGOs, or the commercial sector. The low salary structure at the Historically Disadvantaged Universities (HDUs) reinforces this trend. Many of the movers and shakers of the 1980s are gone, leaving space for the old establishment to regain some of its influence.
Although it was established as a “Coloured” institution, most of UWC’s students are now “African” [2]. Under apartheid, the Western Cape was a “Coloured Labour Preference Area,” and this population was used by the regime as a buffer between the ruling whites and the majority of Africans. During the liberation struggle, “Coloureds” and “Indians” threw in their support with “Africans” and saw themselves as fighting the same struggle. The three groups often referred to themselves generally as “Black.” With liberation, group identities are re–emerging and causing stresses, particularly for “African” students. Differences in socio–economic status play a major role in creating divisions. The “Coloured” population is generally significantly better off than the “African” population. African students have a much harder time paying their fees and finding money for meals. The new government has not been able to allocate enough money for student aid to mitigate this problem.
The library reflects these conditions. The staff remains predominately “Coloured.” Perhaps the major achievement is its online catalog. However, the library lacks sufficient computer terminals and a dial–up option. Only a few of the available computers are powerful enough to access the Internet, and these computers are reserved for the librarians in the database searching office. The library’s CD–ROMs are also used in the searching office. The library employs a total of thirty librarians. More than half have only a Bachelor in Library and Information Science (B.Bibl.). Most of the rest have an additional honors degree (one additional year’s worth of courses on the graduate level), and some also have a diploma in Library and Information Science. Besides the relatively new University Librarian, Colin Darch, few have studied any academic discipline other than library science. With these insufficient qualifications, it is not surprising that library liaison with academic departments and units is weak. Lack of qualified staff and computing (and other) resources creates a high level of frustration for librarians. A very hierarchical salary scale only contributes to the problems.
In such an environment, it is very difficult to create the necessary incentives for self–motivation. However, there are many dedicated individuals who are trying hard under difficult conditions. Staff often rely on union activity to address problems that might be solved through other means if more resources were generally available. The University Librarian has good ideas and intentions but finds it difficult to implement changes. The library staff often misinterprets administrative lack of movement as lack of commitment to changing the environment. Many of the roadblocks seem insurmountable. The University Librarian is hopeful that a forthcoming organizational development process and pending grant proposals may have a vitalizing effect.
University of Durban–Westville
UDW faces many of the same problems as UWC, but the problems seem even larger here. Both staff and students have been protesting over financial issues. Staff pay scales are very hierarchical and need equalization, while many students do not have enough financial aid. Because UDW was the “Indian” university under apartheid, its administration seems unprepared to deal with the financial and other problems of the new African majority student population. As with the “Coloured” population in the Western Cape, the “Indian” population was used as a buffer in the old Natal Province. Again, differences in socio–economic status play a major role.
The country–wide disciplined protests during the apartheid era have given way to the trashing of facilities at many campuses, including this one. As a result the University was closed for several weeks, including during my visit. Luckily, my colleague from Northwestern University, Kathleen Bethel, is currently an ALA Library Fellow at UDW, and she graciously gave me the grand tour. The campus was open to faculty and staff, but not students. Manikam Moodley, the University Librarian, made time to talk with me, even though he was in the middle of serious discussions on how to resolve the current crisis and reopen the University. A discussion document was issued the day I arrived, and a general meeting was held for faculty and staff that afternoon.
As at UWC, Mr. Moodley is a new University Librarian who has taken over from the previous old–school Afrikaner librarian. Although most of the faculty is white, the library staff is predominately Indian and male. The continuing lack of diversity of staff is a real cause for concern. There is an online catalog, but it has been down for months, and the library uses a massive print–out for everyday work. The library’s CD–ROMs are hidden in the Periodicals Office. Only the senior staff have good computers, and there is no graphical interface to the Internet. Ms. Bethel was recruited to help train staff on computer applications, but this has so far been impossible. The library has been promised a new mainframe computer in about two months, and new personal computers and cabling are supposedly in the pipeline. Librarians have comparatively more education at UDW than at UWC, but work under worse conditions. Some of the ten subject librarians have good relations with academic departments, but in general it appears that the poor work ethic that developed under apartheid remains in place. These librarians were historically demotivated by the library racial authoritarian hierarchy. Apartheid–era directors of HDUs were white Afrikaners who generally followed the government ideology. They discouraged professional development and research, while demanding a narrow technical work focus. Combining this work orientation with the fact that HDUs lacked basic resources such as computers and online catalogs, it is no wonder that librarians often developed poor work habits. Let me add one caveat here. I did visit UDW at an extraordinary time, while the University was closed due to staff and student protests. Apartheid baggage may be especially evident in this context.
UDW has an important Documentation Centre on the Indian experience in South Africa. Its museum and library occupy the basement floor of the library building. There is now a debate as to whether this Centre should be there at all, or whether it should broaden its scope to include the Indian diaspora, or include material on the African population of the area (e.g., Zulu). Such debates are, of course, healthy if they are carried out in a principled way. In fact, it may be seen generally as a positive sign that staff and students are protesting against conditions that developed during apartheid. It remains to be seen whether present and future protests will lead to improved conditions. Even Nelson Mandela has recently spoken on the legitimate need for student protests, but he has cautioned that there is no excuse for destroying facilities in the process. The root problem appears to be the still insufficient budget for the education sector.
The University of Fort Hare in the town of Alice was established in 1916 in what was then an important area for the Xhosa people. Under apartheid it was administered under the Ciskei “homeland” or “bantustan.” Of course, these “homelands” have now been incorporated into the new provincial structure of South Africa. As opposed to the coastal universities in major cities addressed above, Fort Hare is in the interior of the Eastern Cape Province, about a one and one–half hour drive from the port of East London. There is no good transportation to the campus. The University has a rich heritage in that many of the leaders of the struggle went to school there, including Nelson Mandela. The University was downgraded to an apartheid structure after the coming to power of the Nationalist Party in 1948. It officially became an “African” university, and became as underdeveloped as UWC and UDW.
Although Fort Hare is physically isolated, its illustrious African heritage gives it an advantage over UWC and UDW. There is no racial problem to overcome in the student body, and there is less resistance to Africanization amongst the faculty. As an example of the apartheid legacy, it must be noted that African history has been taught only since 1993! The African National Congress (ANC) Archives have recently been donated to the campus and they are being assembled in the basement of the library building. Volume 1 of the Fort Hare News was issued by the University administration in May 1996 to commemorate the establishment of these archives. Officials present at the launch included Deputy President Thabo Mbeki; Walter Sisulu; Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo; and former President of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda. Many prominent members of the ANC are involved in the revitalization of the campus, and the current Vice–Chancellor is the well–known novelist, Mbulelo Mzamane. The University has its own Internet homepage [3], an impressive contemporary African art museum (funded by the De Beers Corporation), and the Govan Mbeki Research Resource Centre to help foster appropriate research.
Nevertheless, the apartheid legacy is formidable. The library has only about 160,000 volumes of serials and monographs. Money was made available last year to increase the periodicals holdings from 850 to more than 1,000, but the increase has now vanished and the holdings must be cut back again. As at UWC and UDW, there are few journals from Africa. The Acting Deputy University Librarian, Robin Trehaeven, told me that the collection was strictly undergraduate because there is no budget to meet graduate needs. Graduate students have their own reading room, but there are only three carrels in the library. The staff is very small and includes only three subject librarians.
Fort Hare is ahead of UWC and UDW in computer applications and access. There is a computer lab in the library with seven computers that can access the Internet. The library has created its own homepage. The library is trying to hold small daily computer literacy workshops! The OPAC contains 60–70 percent of the library’s holdings, and seventeen CD–ROMs are available to graduate students in the offices of the subject librarians. In contrast to UWC and UDW, undergraduates are encouraged to get computer accounts to access e–mail and a variety of other computer applications.
The Historically White Universities
I visited three of the Historically White Universities (HWUs), the University of Cape Town (UCT) and both campuses of the University of Natal, in Durban and in Pietermaritzburg (PMB). These campuses would seem quite familiar to American academics, although their student bodies have changed dramatically in recent years. For example, the Pietermaritzburg student body is now 40 percent white, 30 percent Indian, 25 percent African, and 5 percent Coloured. The 1996 statistics for the Durban campus show the first year that whites did not have a plurality of the student population: 36 percent Indian, 34 percent African, 28 percent white, and 2 percent Coloured [4]. The faculty is still mostly white, especially because there are many more opportunities for qualified blacks than previously, and university salaries are comparatively low. However, the Durban campus library has successfully implemented affirmative action. Nevertheless, the University Librarian, Mr. Haffy Haffajee, stated that there is still much to be done in staff development. Library staff generally have a much higher level of education than at the Historically Disadvantaged Universities. For example, all but one librarian at the Pietermaritzburg (PMB) campus have a subject undergraduate degree and a library degree. According to the new University Librarian, Christopher Merrett, the PMB Library has taken leadership in establishing CATNIP, a network of eighteen libraries in KwaZulu/Natal Province with a joint online public catalog and interlibrary loan agreement. A provincial purchase of databases on a central server is in the planning process. Internet access is generally available at these libraries, although some staff are just beginning to use these facilities.
Even more than at the historically disadvantaged campuses, the major drop in the value of the Rand is having a deep effect on collection budgets [5]. These campuses are buying a significant number of journals from North America and Europe and are facing major cuts in the next year. The UCT African Studies Librarian, Margaret Richards, told me that they are facing an increase of 45 percent in the serials budget in the next year, and they just do not have the funds to cover it. They are hoping that their new Cape Library Cooperative, CALICO, will soon be able to address this problem. Common problems that HWU libraries face with HDU libraries — although to a lesser degree — are very hierarchical salary structures, lack of opportunities for professional development, lack of formal methods for advancement, lack of collection development policies, lack of sufficient materials published in Africa, lack of programs to deal with the new mix of student populations, and restricted access to electronic databases.
Botswana is an independent country bordering South Africa on its north, with its capital, Gaborone, just over that border. South Africa is so close that University staff often go shopping there. The country has very close relations with South Africa, including a long–standing customs union. Botswana’s economy is healthy and its currency (the Pula) is stronger than the South African Rand. While I was there, the newspapers were debating whether or not the Pula should remain tied to the Rand. Sparsely populated Botswana is mostly desert, and most of its population is collected in its two major cities, Gaborone and Francistown. The government of Botswana is in a fairly good financial position due to mining and cattle industries, and increasing amounts of money are being put into education. Because of the small population base and lack of education specialists, the University of Botswana faculty is made up of 70-80% expatriates, and they are almost all from other African countries. Unlike in the continent’s international organization, the Organization of African Unity, the librarians appear to cooperate well with each other to provide effective results. Inasmuch as Botswana is an independent country with a university at a stage of development similar to that of many HDUs in South Africa, it is useful to compare university libraries.
The University of Botswana has a collection of about 200,000 volumes. This is in the same general range as the collections at Fort Hare, UWC, UDW, and the University of Natal–PMB. There are ten subject librarians, all with advanced degrees. It is interesting that the University provides a bachelor’s degree in library science but the University Librarian, Kay Raseroka, refuses to hire graduates with only that degree! In theory, it is up to the various faculties to make acquisition decisions, but in practice this system does not function, except for periodicals. In general, librarians have closer links to academic departments than librarians in South Africa. Unfortunately, their loyalty sometimes swings too far towards the departments, to the detriment of the library. Since this is the only university in the country, the role of the library is broader than at South African universities. Librarians must purchase with the whole country in mind. For example, the Law Librarian must purchase material needed by the legal community in the capital as well as for university classes. The very small public library does not fill higher–level needs.
In general, librarians at the University of Botswana are highly educated and function at a higher level than their counterparts in South Africa. They have collection responsibilities and they have recently written a comprehensive collection development policy. Subject librarians analyze their collection and provide graphs by Dewey numbers. However, they do not always spend their entire budgets. Although they use current awareness services such as Blackwell’s, their information on what is currently being published is limited by their relative isolation. This may explain why they do not spend their entire budgets. Although many librarians have good liaison with academic departments, these relations are still generally unequal. Most librarians appear reluctant to take the initiative in acting as full partners with their liaison departments, although some are succeeding. In a frank discussion with the staff, the University Librarian urged them to take the initiative for their own empowerment. Librarians at the University of Botswana seem to see themselves in a broader role than their colleagues across the border. The University of Botswana Library has much to offer as a model for South African university library development.
The Role of the Librarian within the University
All of the university libraries I visited, except for UCT, rely on subject librarians for a major part of their work. However, South African subject librarians labor under much more difficult conditions than their colleagues in the United States. South African libraries have relatively little control of their collection development. Historically, collection development budgets have been allocated to academic departments, which instruct the library on what to buy. A small amount of money remains in the library to fill in gaps. This leaves the library little power to effectively shape collections, and encourages a hands–off approach. Most South African libraries do not have written collection development policies, and I suspect that this is directly related to how budgets are allocated. Subject librarians typically have only a small amount of funds to spend, and final authority usually rests with the head of acquisitions. Under these circumstances, subject librarians have little incentive to have close relationships with the academic departments they serve. Some libraries have tried, with limited success, to assert budget authority.
Outside control of collection budgets is not likely to be modified until librarians assume a more active role within their institutions. Librarians have been historically repressed at the HDUs, under apartheid structures run by old–school Afrikaners. New university librarians have only recently been appointed to replace these authoritarian administrators. It will take some time to change these structures and working environments to a more open and participatory mode. More senior staff need to be remotivated or even replaced, and more librarians need to believe that taking some initiative will be rewarded. It is obvious that significantly more funding is needed to upgrade salaries and provide more resources, especially computer equipment. It is possible that foundation funding may help in the short–run, but in the end, library budgets must be increased to fill these needs. It is notable that the new South African government is still spending much more on the military than seems justified by the new domestic and international situation. One can only hope that some of these funds will eventually be transferred to education.
Librarians at the HDUs need also to rethink some of their internal relationships. For example, why does the UDW Periodicals Librarian have control of the budget for buying all indexes and abstracts (including CD–ROMs), and why are these reference materials kept together in a corner with other periodicals, far from the subject librarians? It seems obvious that subject librarians must have easy access to appropriate reference materials, and the ability to have an impact on which reference materials are purchased. Most South African subject librarians are expected to catalog new materials within their subject expertise. In effect, this means that subject librarians spend half or more of their time as catalogers. This often results in reference desks left unattended or staffed by student workers. Many of these librarians complain that they do not have enough time for public services and professional development. Perhaps a happy compromise is the arrangement at the University of Natal Pietermaritzburg campus, where catalogers do descriptive cataloging while subject librarians supply subject headings [6].
Perhaps some subject librarians are happy to spend most of their time cataloging because they do not know what they are missing. One subject librarian told me that she enjoyed cataloging and that if she did not do it, she would not know what else to do with her time! South African libraries generally do not reward research and service activities. One well known librarian told me that he does his research and service in spite of the fact that it makes no difference to his university administration, and this is at one of the elite HM/Us!
The hierarchical nature of the salary structure is also an issue. Senior staff appear to make reasonable salaries in comparison with their North American counterparts, especially when various benefits are included. However, salaries descend rapidly from the top, and the support staff often make a mere pittance. While North American university libraries often use student workers as a cheap source of skilled labor, South African university libraries find it cheaper to hire full–time support staff at ridiculous wages [7]. At UDW, student workers make 10 Rand per hour, but support staff can be hired for 45 Rand per day. Such support staff have a very low level of expertise. Librarians need a better level of support for efficient operation. By employing more student assistants, HDUs could mitigate the difficult financial problems of a large number of their students. Such action might help decrease the likelihood of protests that close down instruction on a regular basis.
Although I met many dedicated librarians who had been or continue to be active in the liberation struggle, the legacy of apartheid is deep–rooted and it will take a long time to change attitudes and behaviors, and reallocate resources to the benefit of the majority of South Africans. Universities and libraries will continue to reflect the larger society, and will be in a state of flux for the foreseeable future. The road ahead is unclear and the need for struggle remains. There is a need to upgrade the entire library profession in South Africa. Librarians currently in place need extensive staff development, and new librarians must be expected to have an education that includes a subject major at the undergraduate level and a master’s degree in library and information science. Library schools such as the ones at the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg and the University of Cape Town are taking the lead in offering and concentrating on master’s programs. University libraries must make it clear that they are looking for a higher level of education than the B.Bibl. Librarians must be empowered to see themselves as colleagues of other faculty members and to see their roles broadly as educators. They must be rewarded for taking the initiative, and for upgrading their education. It is up to the current university library directors to introduce these changes and to find resources within and without their institutions to upgrade the profession. South frica is in a transitory phase and the universities have played, and continue to play, an important role in the developmental process. Libraries at the HDUs have a central role in closing the gap with the HWUs, and they have the possibility of contributing to a more just and democratic society.
[1] See http://star.hsrc.ac.za/nche/wglitlcover.html.
[2] This is verbal information from the University Librarian. Data for 1995 shows the following: 14,653 students, of whom 53 percent are women, 49 percent African, 45 percent coloured, 5 percent Indian, and 2 percent white. Education for Our Future (Bellville: UWC Office for Development and Public Affairs [1996?]).
[3] The URL is http://www.ufh.ac.za/library/.
[4] Furthermore, new registration statistics for 1996 show an increased trend toward diversity. Data for the Durban campus show 46 percent Indian, 35 percent African, 17 percent white, and 2 percent Coloured. Data for the Pietermaritzburg campus show 42 percent white, 37 percent African, 19 percent Indian, and 2 percent Coloured. From Internal Management Information (Durban: University of Natal), 3 June 1996.
[5] One dollar was worth R4.3 at the time of my visit.
[6] However, it is interesting to note that some subject librarians are very happy to be catalogers and that the University of Natal Durban campus has just given cataloging to the subject librarians at their request. The head of cataloging agrees with this decision, but notes that cataloging statistics have dropped.
[7] UWC is an exception. It has a special grant to hire student workers.
Al Kagan is African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration at the University of Illinois Library, Urbana–Champaign.
©1996 Al Kagan.