About the ReviewerLibraries in Africa: Pioneers, Policies, Problems. By Anthony Olden. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1995. xx, 170 p. ISBN 0–810–83903–0.
This book is a rewritten and updated version of the author’s 1987 University of Illinois Ph.D. dissertation, with material added and sources in the U.K. consulted. The underlying question in the dissertation was who benefitted from libraries in Africa; in the book, an attempt is made as well to link the history of previous libraries to the weak state of African libraries today. The author spent many years working as a librarian and teacher of librarianship in Nigeria. He now lectures in the U.K.
The core of the book consists of a series of case studies of library services established in Africa, from the 1930s to the 1960s. One chapter is devoted to each case study; the library services covered are:
Each case study examines the factors that led up to the introduction of the service, subsequent policies and their rationale, noteworthy events, descriptions of the people involved, and what happened if and when the service ceased. Prior to the case studies, two useful chapters place the libraries in their historical and developmental context, and give an overview of foreign aid providers and an evaluation of the role they played. The final two chapters provide the link to the present, highlighting issues that have remained in the forefront over the years, and concluding that the future lies in focusing library development on education.
The most interesting and illuminating part of the book is the collection of case studies. The author states that his intention is, as put by Wole Soyinka, to “leave the dead some room to dance” (p. xv). The account of each library reads like an exciting adventure story. Facts and figures given to give a picture of size and growth. But emphasis is placed on those involved in setting up and running the services. Local politics played an important part. Those holding the more progressive views of the imperial role tended to win (but not always). Services were moulded by the commitment and energy of individuals. Often it was accident that led these pioneers to Africa. Ethel Fegan, instrumental in Ghana and Nigeria in the 1940s, was drawn from the ivory towers of Cambridge to Nigeria by her desire to help lepers. Charles Richards, recruited while playing tennis in a Sussex vicarage to run a Church Missionary Society book shop in Kenya, ended up directing a service that both encouraged African writing and provided the means for Africans to read. The plates of photographs give faces to the actors. I doubt that any of this material has previously been brought together and made available in one publication.
Issues and questions that have characterized public library development in Africa in the past and still bedevil it today are raised. One is the tendency of libraries to serve an elite — whether the white settlers of Kenya in the 1930s, the European– and African–educated population of Lagos in the 1930s, or the decision–makers of Nigeria in the 1960s. Today, librarians may tend to play down needs of the majority by limiting textbook provision and services for new literates. The lack of a local publishing industry to produce cheap and relevant material is as much a problem today as it was in the 1940s and 1950s, when the East African Literature Bureau tried for a solution combining the production, supply, distribution, and availability of material. Yet another continuing problem is dependence on donor aid. One of the earliest foreign aid organizations — Carnegie — is still attempting to bring growth and sustenance to African libraries.
More connections between the past and the present could have been made and I wish the author had done this. One issue I would have liked to see explored in greater depth is whether or not charges should be leveraged for information. All the early libraries were subscription, and fierce argument ensued in the 1940s as to whether a fee was justified or a serious handicap to progress. Today, the idea of “cost–sharing” is again under discussion. Then, as now, library services decline when government or donor funding declines.
Perhaps one difficulty in successfully drawing links between the past and the present lies in the choice of the case studies. All come from Kenya and Nigeria, apart from half a chapter on Ghana. The author explains this limitation in terms of personal experience and availability of sources. Nevertheless, I would have wished to see coverage of the early work of the Ghana Library Board and the Tanzania Library Services. These would have provided more representative information on the immediate post–independence period of public libraries, as well as corrective data for the book’s rather limited discussion on the role of libraries in literacy and education.
On the whole, examining their own history has not been an approach much favoured by those studying African public libraries. Earlier writers considered that modern library services started with independence and the past could therefore be ignored. A more recent viewpoint is that post–independence initiatives were also rooted in colonial traditions and external influences; this inherited framework is again best ignored. By showing the relevance of previous undertakings to present–day problems, Anthony Olden succeeds in bringing the history of libraries in Africa back into the mainstream of academic discussion.
Diane Rosenberg is Head, Special Programmes, International African Institute, London. She is a member of the Advisory Board of Third World Libraries.
© 1996 Diane Rosenberg.
Citation
Rosenberg, Diane, “Review of Libraries in Africa: Pioneers, Policies, Problems by Anthony Olden,” Third World Libraries, Volume 6, Number 2 (Spring 1996).