School library policy in South Africa : where do we stand?

Abstract

The absence of national school library policy guidelines is of great concern to the school library profession as this has an adverse effect on the provision of school library services and curriculum reform initiatives in South Africa. The purpose of this article is to present a review of school library policy initiatives since the report of the National Education Policy Investigation (NEPI) up to the present time, and to provide a perspective on the relationship between school library policy development and the provision of school library services and curriculum reform. The implications for the LIS profession are discussed. It is suggested that the LIS profession make a combined effort to form a partnership with educators, other stakeholders and government to engage in school library policy development based on realities on the ground and financial constraints for the benefit of curriculum reform, meaningful school education and a democratic society.