Library (institution)

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Public Libraries

Public libraries in Africa trace their origins to the desire of European colonists to have access to the information resources of their home countries. As a result, the public libraries they established typically provided access only to specialized groups of European descendants and to elite Africans, not to the general public. For example, the first Lagos Public Library in Nigeria was established in 1932 with a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Despite being nominally public, it was inaccessible to most Nigerians because it was located on the grounds of the government houses.

In former British colonies of Africa, donations of English-language books significantly aided the development of public libraries. The British Council, which was instrumental in the establishment of libraries in many countries of Africa, continues to maintain libraries in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, and Tanzania. Most public libraries are located in urban areas, but some countries, including Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania, have extended services to rural areas as well.

Public library development in Africa is often impeded because libraries must compete for scarce government funds with more urgent concerns, such as health care. Despite severe financial constraints, public officials have tried to make traditional public library services such as acquisition, lending, and reference available to all users regardless of age, sex, religion, or social status.

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Special Libraries

Colonial governments established the earliest special libraries in Africa to promote studies of practical value to colonial administrators. In British colonies, for example, special libraries reflected the colonial governments’ interest in agriculture, medicine, and geology. In Nigeria, British colonists established the Agricultural Research Department in Ibadan in 1910, the Medical Research Institute in Lagos in 1910, and the Nigeria Geological Survey Institute in Kaduna in 1919. All of these institutes had libraries to serve the research officers. Other European colonies in Africa established similar libraries for specialized research.

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In South Africa, commercial and technological special libraries grew with industrialization, particularly after the end of World War II in 1945. By the 1990s more than 600 special libraries in South Africa served researchers in the fields of law, banking, agriculture, medicine, politics, and social sciences. In Malawi, Tanzania, and Kenya, the ministries of agriculture maintain central and branch libraries at research stations, training centers, and divisional offices. The central libraries perform acquisitions and then send the materials to branch libraries.

Some special libraries in Africa serve government officials in political capacities. For example, the Chama Cha Mapinduzi library in Tanzania was established by leaders of the government’s ruling political party as a means of obtaining information to support their political activities.

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University Libraries

The prime function of university libraries in Africa is the same as their function in other parts of the world: to provide library services to students and faculty members. Because most African universities were not founded until after World War II ended in 1945, their libraries have not had time to develop extensive collections. Important libraries founded before African countries gained independence in the mid- to late 20th century include the library of Fourah Bay College, which was founded in 1827 in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and the library of the University of Liberia, which was established in Monrovia in 1862.

African university libraries vary in size but consist mainly of textbooks and—in larger universities—research materials. Many university libraries strive to give prominence to publications that are African in origin or are about Africa in general. Universities such as the University of Ibadan in Nigeria and the University of Khartoum in Sudan have large collections of African materials because they formerly acted as the national legal depositories for local authors. Today, African university libraries often acquire library materials through gifts and through exchanges with organizations and institutions in other parts of the world. Some international organizations also designate selected university libraries as their depositories. For example, the University of Ibadan receives certain documents from United Nations agencies.

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School Libraries

School libraries are distributed unevenly throughout Africa, and many areas remain poorly served. In some countries, such as Uganda, school libraries are the responsibility of the national library. In other countries, such as Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania, they are overseen by a national library board. In Nigeria, each state government is responsible for school library services within the state. Most school libraries in Tanzania, Nigeria, Zambia, and Ghana have been beneficiaries of donations from the Ranfurly Library Service, a British organization dedicated to eliminating world hunger through education.

Despite efforts to improve educational resources throughout the continent, most school libraries in Africa still suffer from lack of funds and lack of attention. However, private schools often maintain well-stocked libraries managed by professional librarians. Some of the more privileged school libraries provide lending, reference, and supplementary reading services.

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Library Education

Library education in most parts of Africa continues to reflect the influence of the European colonists, who built library schools, paid staff salaries, and provided scholarships for staff development and fellowships for students. The first regional library school in Africa was founded in Ghana in 1944 through the efforts of the Carnegie Corporation in collaboration with the British government. However, it closed its doors after only one year. In 1960 the Carnegie Corporation established the Library School at Ibadan, Nigeria. Now known as the School of Library, Archival, and Information Studies, it offers paraprofessional training and bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees to enable students to become professional librarians.

The East African School of Librarianship at Makerere University, in Uganda, was established in 1963 in cooperation with three former East African British colonies: Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The Council for Library Training in East Africa was founded at the same time as a governing body for the school. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) provided a director and the British Council offered the services of a lecturer in library and information science.

Also in 1963 UNESCO opened the Regional Center for the Training of Librarians, a library school at Dakar, Senegal, that served as a regional training center for French-speaking countries of Africa. Before this, French-speaking Africans received most of their library training in France. In 1967 the center was attached to the University of Dakar as the School for Librarians, Archivists, and Documentalists.

In Zambia, the Department of Library Studies was established with UNESCO aid in 1966 as part of the school of education at the University of Zambia. The department of library science of the University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, runs a library science program through postgraduate levels.

At the University of Botswana, in Gaborone, the department of library studies was created in 1979 to provide paraprofessional training for librarians in Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland. By 1995 the department had become a professional school, offering training at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate levels and attracting students from nearly 20 countries.

As far back as 1933, the South African Library Association offered introductory courses in librarianship based on models established by the British Library Association. In 1948 the University of Pretoria introduced undergraduate courses in library science, and most other universities in South Africa followed suit during the 1950s and 1960s. Today, several South African universities offer postgraduate training in library and information science.

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