Msunduzi Public Library, South Africa. Courtesy of AfLIA
This week (14-20 March 2022) is South African Library Week. In 2001, the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) established Library Week for all types of libraries in South Africa to market their services and create awareness of the important role that libraries play in a democracy. This includes advancing literacy, making the basic human right of freedom of access to information a reality, and promoting tolerance and respect in society. Although South African Library Week is only recognized in South Africa, these values resonate with libraries in countries across Africa and globally.
This year, the theme for Library Week is ReImagine! RePurpose! ReDiscover... Libraries! It will explore how libraries reimagine their services and their ability to render those services, repurpose both their spaces and their services to continue being effective in the communities that they serve, and allow library users to rediscover the library and the ways in which it benefits them. An ongoing collaboration between the African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA) and OER Africa aims to encourage librarians in Africa to be able to reimagine libraries as spaces for opening access to information for their communities. This has been done through a series of activities to raise awareness about the importance of open licensing and open knowledge, including the 2020/21 piloting of a series of learning pathways on open education, with 50 librarians across Africa participating.
Increasingly, public libraries in South Africa and around the continent are required to do more with less, while providing vital access to reading material and resources for communities and individuals who cannot find such support elsewhere. Libraries continue to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and many are looking for new ways to provide services to their communities. While they battle under current challenges, they remain valuable places for people to be able to read books and newspapers, do homework or research, and use computers and the Internet. Could open education practices assist librarians to reimagine how their communities access the information they need?
In an interview for OER Africa, Dr Nkem Osuigwe, the Human Capacity Development and Training Director at AfLIA, described the importance of libraries to the community after a visit to a library in Nakaseke, just outside Kampala,
"This little library could get news from the radio, TV, newspapers, but also books. They knew when and where it was going to rain, the cost of seedlings, how to get better produce. They were passing this information down to members of the community, so, in turn that made the community go there to find out, 'where do I sell my bananas today, at what price, how do I sell them, which market will give me higher prices…' That was the first time I realized that public libraries can really do awesome things when the people that work there understand what it is all about, when they engage their user communities more."
Dr Osuigwe believes the open licensing and open educational resources (OER) can enable librarians to help their communities rediscover libraries: "This is an area that people do not know much about, and it’s also an area that will help librarians generate more resources for their user communities. Where they can go and learn how to collaborate with others and to create resources if needs be."
African libraries are in good hands, with the support of AfLIA, which is constantly striving for equitable access to information for all. Through engagement with critical issues around open knowledge and open licensing, AfLIA encourages its members to reimagine their services and repurpose their spaces and services to help users rediscover how the library will benefit them. Open knowledge initiatives, such as the #1Lib1Ref campaign and the Wikipedia project for African Librarians, and free webinars AfLIA that presents with partners from across the globe, are establishing AfLIA as the platform for all librarians in Africa to come together, learn from each other, and encourage one another. AfLIA is creating an online space for African librarians to share knowledge, insights and perspectives that represent African voices, cultures, and philosophies as well as making sure that African narratives are represented in the global body of knowledge available online. In doing so, AfLIA is ensuring that African libraries and their users are able to reimagine and rediscover libraries as accessible knowledge centres for the global open knowledge community.
This week, join us in celebrating libraries and the important work they do in our communities.
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