Are public libraries doomed?
May 23, 2004
Public libraries across the country are near extinction.<br><b>Bamuturaki Musinguzi and Fred Kyobe</b> explore their plight and whether the proposed library development policy will salvage their appalling conditions.
In an effort to improve the literacy levels, government has come up with a library development policy intended to guide and co-ordinate operations of libraries.
But as the technocrats refine the policy, it might be too late to save National Libraries of Uganda headquarters. The landlord Patidar Samaj, is threatening to evict them over a sh127m rent arrears.
The Director, G.K. Mulindwa, said the library has defaulted on rent payment since 2001 with the exception of some three months in 2002, when their parent ministry - Gender, Labour and Social Welfare - released some money.
As of now, their fate hangs in balance.
“We have contacted the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development over the rent and I am sure they are working on the problem,†Mulindwa said.
He, however, said the ministry had also offered an alternative building, the Mengo Social Centre, in Kisenyi slums if the worst comes to the worst.
Mulindwa says that out of the 56 districts in Uganda only 22 have access to a public library, most of them ill- equipped. The Uganda Library Association (ULA) has also petitioned parliament not only on the plight of the national library, but also on the problems facing the public libraries throughout the country.
The current crisis has, however, not deterred officials in the ministry of Education from pushing ahead with the library development policy. The mission of the policy is to promote the development, use and effective utilisation of library information services for a sustainable quality of education and lifelong learning in the country.
Education in Uganda has been constrained by poor reading culture and the low levels of information literacy. This generally impinges on lifelong learning as well as performance in examinations at all education levels.
A recent study by education ministry showed that only 13% of students who complete primary school cycle were adequately literate in English. The study attributed “this sad situation partly to concentration of resources on textbooks without balancing the need for non-textbook reading materials.â€
The chairman of the policy’s Technical Committee, Aggrey Kibenge told Education Vision that access to information material does not have to be restricted to structures like buildings. He says that the concept of a school library in Uganda’s situation should be the availability of information materials. For instance, the teacher distributing the materials either on a daily basis or otherwise, in cases where there are no physical libraries.
“The policy should be flexible enough, because some rural schools, especially in the primary sector do not have the required minimum standards for operation. So the idea is to make the information materials available at a point where they can be easily accessed by the school community,†says Kibenge.
The Ministry of Education and Sports has been responsible for developing the school library development policy, which is yet to be agreed upon by the various stakeholders. Uganda does not have a policy governing the operations of school libraries. Each school does what suits them best.
It is envisaged that the policy will provide for a regulatory and institutional framework that ensures a co-ordinated and regulated approach to overall development of libraries in the country and the smooth flow, access and use of information in educational institutions.
It also proposes a mechanism for evaluating the impact of the school library policy on education, literacy levels, academic performance, reading habits, and resource utilisation. According to the policy, the school library shall provide access to local, regional, national and global information resources. It advocates for the establishment of library committees at school and district levels. The committees are supposed to devise funding strategies and maintain the library standards.
Currently some schools have substandard libraries.
For example, the Education Standards Agency in its 2002 report states that, of the 40 secondary schools inspected in Bugiri, none had a library while only two of the 24 visited in Busia had libraries.
Worst still, most of the libraries are manned by unqualified personnel.
The policy aims at training of library staff for improved service delivery and to improve the quality of education and the reading culture all levels.
ULA says children should be encouraged to read beyond prescribed school textbooks and explore the exciting world of supplementary reading materials such as newspapers, magazines and other literature.
Ends
But as the technocrats refine the policy, it might be too late to save National Libraries of Uganda headquarters. The landlord Patidar Samaj, is threatening to evict them over a sh127m rent arrears.
The Director, G.K. Mulindwa, said the library has defaulted on rent payment since 2001 with the exception of some three months in 2002, when their parent ministry - Gender, Labour and Social Welfare - released some money.
As of now, their fate hangs in balance.
“We have contacted the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development over the rent and I am sure they are working on the problem,†Mulindwa said.
He, however, said the ministry had also offered an alternative building, the Mengo Social Centre, in Kisenyi slums if the worst comes to the worst.
Mulindwa says that out of the 56 districts in Uganda only 22 have access to a public library, most of them ill- equipped. The Uganda Library Association (ULA) has also petitioned parliament not only on the plight of the national library, but also on the problems facing the public libraries throughout the country.
The current crisis has, however, not deterred officials in the ministry of Education from pushing ahead with the library development policy. The mission of the policy is to promote the development, use and effective utilisation of library information services for a sustainable quality of education and lifelong learning in the country.
Education in Uganda has been constrained by poor reading culture and the low levels of information literacy. This generally impinges on lifelong learning as well as performance in examinations at all education levels.
A recent study by education ministry showed that only 13% of students who complete primary school cycle were adequately literate in English. The study attributed “this sad situation partly to concentration of resources on textbooks without balancing the need for non-textbook reading materials.â€
The chairman of the policy’s Technical Committee, Aggrey Kibenge told Education Vision that access to information material does not have to be restricted to structures like buildings. He says that the concept of a school library in Uganda’s situation should be the availability of information materials. For instance, the teacher distributing the materials either on a daily basis or otherwise, in cases where there are no physical libraries.
“The policy should be flexible enough, because some rural schools, especially in the primary sector do not have the required minimum standards for operation. So the idea is to make the information materials available at a point where they can be easily accessed by the school community,†says Kibenge.
The Ministry of Education and Sports has been responsible for developing the school library development policy, which is yet to be agreed upon by the various stakeholders. Uganda does not have a policy governing the operations of school libraries. Each school does what suits them best.
It is envisaged that the policy will provide for a regulatory and institutional framework that ensures a co-ordinated and regulated approach to overall development of libraries in the country and the smooth flow, access and use of information in educational institutions.
It also proposes a mechanism for evaluating the impact of the school library policy on education, literacy levels, academic performance, reading habits, and resource utilisation. According to the policy, the school library shall provide access to local, regional, national and global information resources. It advocates for the establishment of library committees at school and district levels. The committees are supposed to devise funding strategies and maintain the library standards.
Currently some schools have substandard libraries.
For example, the Education Standards Agency in its 2002 report states that, of the 40 secondary schools inspected in Bugiri, none had a library while only two of the 24 visited in Busia had libraries.
Worst still, most of the libraries are manned by unqualified personnel.
The policy aims at training of library staff for improved service delivery and to improve the quality of education and the reading culture all levels.
ULA says children should be encouraged to read beyond prescribed school textbooks and explore the exciting world of supplementary reading materials such as newspapers, magazines and other literature.
Ends