Librarianship in South Africa

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National Library of South Africa in Cape Town
Fort Hare University in Alice , library building

The library system in South Africa began in the time of the second half of the 18th century ( colonization ), in the first mission libraries emerged. From 1928 onwards the modern library system slowly emerged , although large differences between rich and poor or within different regions can still be seen today. Each province has its own library authority. Most of the individual libraries are concentrated in the greater Johannesburg and Cape Town regions .

Library types and structure

As in Europe, a distinction is made between public and academic libraries. The largest public library is the Johannesburg Public Library . In the academic libraries there is pronounced specialization according to subject areas. There are 88 university libraries , 370 specialist libraries , 670 city and village libraries, 90 government libraries and a national library , including private, school and special libraries . The total stock of the South African libraries is estimated at around 50 million bibliographic units.

financing

In South Africa, the libraries are largely financed by the public budget. They are sponsored by municipal, provincial or state institutions. There are also a number of private libraries.

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South Africa now has a well-developed computer network and well- functioning connections to all known international search engines . Internet access is also available in all libraries in major cities. The progress of database development is a positive aspect .

In 1983 the development of SABINET ( South African Bibliographic and Information Network ) began, which is a computer-aided bibliographic database for research.

Library associations and associations

The LIASA ( Library and Information Association of South Africa ) was founded in 1997 and originally emerged from two different associations, the SAILIS ( The South African Institute for Librarianship and Information Science ), which required membership for only white librarians, and the ALASA ( African Librarians Association of South Africa ), which were only available to black librarians. After apartheid these two associations were combined. The LIWO ( The Library and Information Workers Organization of South Africa ) worked independently from the start.

The five library associations, like the associations, are only briefly named here: CALICO ( Western Cape ), ESAL ( KwaZulu-Natal ), FRELICO ( Free State ), GAELIC ( Gauteng ) and SEALS ( Eastern Cape ). You can find out more about their work on the relevant homepages. Its foundation was necessary in the fight against racial segregation , because of lack of money and for the use of better customer service in the libraries.

Library education

The library training is possible in various large cities, e.g. B. Pretoria , Durban and Johannesburg. The course is part or full-time and depends on the degree of training. All courses in South Africa are fee-based. It is offered as a major (similar to the University of Applied Sciences in Germany) library science with a BA, MA or diploma. University studies with a doctorate or professor are also possible.

The National Library in Cape Town and Pretoria

With "The National Library of South Africa Act 92 of 1998", the South African Library in Cape Town and the State Library in Pretoria were merged to form the National Library of South Africa (NLSA) with two main locations. She collects and indexes all publications from and about South Africa. She coordinates the international interlibrary loan and creates and publishes the South African national bibliography . The NLSA is also responsible for the restoration and conservation care of the historically most valuable holdings within the national framework. It owns valuable special collections , such as the AFRICANA collection (includes older and current documents with a reference to Africa, historical newspapers from the colonial period and old travelogues ), illustrated books or remarkable writings in Cape Dutch's predecessor language.

Problems and prospects

The legacy of apartheid is most evident in South Africa in the area of ​​education, although the government has increased spending on black education significantly since the mid-1980s. The proportion of the black population who can read and write is less than 50 percent, while it is 100 percent among whites.

To name just a few problems related to librarianship, here are a few examples. A problem is and will probably continue to be the notorious lack of money not only in the population, but also in the libraries, who, for example, have to pay customs duties on all imported books.

The city ​​libraries are often used by the students as study rooms, since in many places there is not enough electricity and user space.

The books are subject to severe wear and tear, as the students often cannot afford their own. This means that the theft rate is very high. As in other countries, the libraries in South Africa must be able to count on more government subsidies . There are no suitable safeguards for books and libraries, and purchases of multiple copies are usually not possible either. That is why close cooperation between national and international library-specific institutions is important in the future.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Republic of South Africa: National Library Act of South Africa, 1998 . In: Government Gazette No. 19415 of November 2, 1998. online at www.dac.gov.za (Afrikaans, English)