Libraries in the African Renaissance: African Experience and Prospects for Survival in the Information Age

Abstract

Africa has not been a huge success story in the 20th-century library and information world. What, if anything, can the rest of the developing world learn from the African experience? In many countries library and information services are more highly developed than in any countries of Africa. But others share many of the handicaps of library and information services development which characterize African countries. For librarians and information workers from such countries, the African experience may be quite close to home and it may offer some useful lessons.This paper attempts to outline the state of library development in Africa at the turn of the century in the context of the challenges and opportunities presented on the one hand by the world-wide developments in information technology, and on the other by the hoped for African Renaissance. Six promising responses to these challenges and opportunities are presented.Africa is a large and diverse continent. In this paper it is not possible to give a historical perspective on library development in Africa. Given limitations of the author's experience, the emphasis is on Anglophone Africa and on the countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and on public, university and national libraries.