University Libraries in Africa: A Review of Their Current State and Future Potential
Edited by Diana Rosenberg et al.
London: International African Institute, 1997.
Three vols. Volume 1:Summary. Volume 2: Case Studies Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya. Volume 3: Case Studies Mozambique, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanszania, Zimbabwe; Donor Policies and Practices.
This major study was carried out in 1995 by the International African Institute (IAI), with funding from DANIDA, an agency of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Overseas Development Administration (United Kingdom); and the Swedish Agency for Research Co-operation with Developing Countries (SAREC) of the Swedish International Development Agency. It is based upon a written questionnaire assessing the five-year time period 1989–1994, and open-ended interviews with 81 librarians, 110 academics, 36 graduate students, 67 undergraduate students, and staff members of the donor agencies. It includes 18 public and private university libraries in 11 countries, and 21 donor agencies. North African libraries were excluded (although Sudan is represented), and libraries in South Africa were not consulted. Volume one provides the summary, bibliography, and questionnaires, and the remaining two volumes present the detailed case studies. These case studies follow an issue-oriented format which is summarized in volume one. Most of them were carried out by IAI staff in coordination with university librarians (“local researchers”). Volume one also gives recommendations based upon the data, and a summary of the fifteen strategies and action plans derived from consideration of the draft report at the second SCANUL-ECS meeting in Maseru, Lesotho, 6–8 December 1996. SCANUL-ECS is the Standing Conference of African National and University Libraries in Eastern, Central, and Southern Africa. Supplementary data not presented are available from the IAI.
In contrast with much library literature, there are no rose-colored glasses here. Rosenberg presents a bleak picture of the current state of African university libraries, and although she gives us her own and the SCANUL-ECS practical recommendations, the reader must come away discouraged. She does note that the University of Botswana and three private university libraries are exceptions, but she does not analyze the implications for the rest of the group. Botswana has had an exceptionally robust economy, but perhaps there are transferable strategies for advancement.
Rosenberg explains that Africa’s economic crisis has resulted in large budget cuts for African higher education, including university libraries. Furthermore, enrollments have skyrocketed. African libraries have become highly dependent upon foreign donors. In some institutions, 90-100 percent of the budgets for collection development are provided by donors, and almost all information technology is donated from outside. University administrations usually expect their libraries to function using these outside sources of funding, and therefore they do not provide enough internal funding. Even so, in most instances budgets are not sufficient even to maintain core collections. However, support from donors is becoming narrower and project-oriented, and university administrations have a poor record in sustaining projects when the donor’s funds have been used up. Academic departments are establishing their own library collections, often with funding from the same donors. Although main libraries are becoming marginalized, the ideal of a strong central library remains.
The only noticeable bright point in the summary is that the use of personal computers, e-mail, and CD-ROM technology is now the norm. However, information technology relies upon donor funds, support services are often missing, and librarians do not have sufficient training to maintain services.
Further problems include lack of public service orientation, isolation from professional colleagues, difficulty retaining senior staff, lack of professional status, overstaffing of nonprofessional positions, and low and decreasing use of inter-library loan—for lack of funding.
Although extremely serious problems do exist, perhaps Rosenberg is overly pessimistic. In the current climate created by the World Bank’s Structural Adjustment Program, African governments can no longer support social and educational institutions at a reasonable level. What is remarkable is that African scholars and librarians are finding ways to maintain and expand their links with colleagues both on the continent and elsewhere. They continue to on. The recent meeting of the Standing Conference of Eastern, Central, and Southern African Librarians (SCECSAL), held just after SCANUL-ECS in Maseru, had several hundred spirited participates. African librarians also participated in international meetings such as IFLA, and are invited to meetings of national associations such as ALA and the [U.S.] African Studies Association. Of course, comparatively few find their way to such meetings.
The author states that there has recently been “tremendous progress” in the implementation of information technology. Although no libraries surveyed yet had access to the Internet, most African countries have recently gotten on the Internet, and university libraries are bound to start getting access in the near future. CD-ROM is appropriate technology for Africa, and is used widely in African university libraries, especially through the efforts of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. African studies librarians in the United States now communicate regularly through e-mail and fax with their colleagues on the continent.
It is unfortunate that donors have not coordinated their efforts, but the “explosive growth” of faculty libraries in academic departments does provide some access to material which would not otherwise be available. University libraries are challenged to coordinate with these collections.
Two further points need to be addressed. Rosenberg emphasizes the lack of African imprints available in libraries and the necessity of purchasing expensive Western books and journals. No one could deny the need to acquire Western materials, but African publishing is expanding and flourishing in a number of countries. Furthermore, some Africans living outside the continent have made an effort to publish (or co–publish) through African presses. The growing pan-African movement in the United States, along with the difficulty of Africans’ gaining access to mainstream U.S. publishers, will encourage this trend. Anyone who doubts the growth of African publishing should consult the African Books Publishing Record (quarterly), African Books in Print (1993), Accessions List: Eastern and Southern Africa (bimonthly from the Nairobi office), and the Quarterly lndex to Periodical Literature, Eastern and Southern Africa (from the same Nairobi office). Many African scholarly books can be purchased easily, outside the continent, through the African Books Collective in Oxford, England.
Finally, the issue of faculty status for librarians must be tackled. Rosenberg notes that low status has a bad effect upon retention, and results in low morale. Faculty status would be a great help to African university librarians, enhancing their opportunities for professional development and increasing salaries and benefits. However, she equates faculty status with another subject master’s degree. This is a more practical approach, and it has been shown to work. Just as important are the matters of standardizing library degrees and upgrading all librarians to the master’s level. Librarians cannot hope to be seen as faculty colleagues unless they have knowledge and competence at the graduate level.
This study deserves a place in all library and information science libraries, and in African national and university libraries. It contains information not available elsewhere, and its summary of conditions, and analysis, provide a basis for discussion and development. Perhaps it is meant as a wake-up call, but its overly pessimistic tone must be balanced with other materials that provide information and analysis giving measured hope for the future.
Al Kagan is African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
E–mail: akagan [at] uiuc [dot] edu
© 1999 Al Kagan.