Addressing SDGs and library relevance by serving the majority: introducing innovative child/youth public library services in Zambia

MEYERS, Jane Kinney (2016) Addressing SDGs and library relevance by serving the majority: introducing innovative child/youth public library services in Zambia. Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2016 – Columbus, OH – Connections. Collaboration. Community in Session 101 - Poster Sessions.

Bookmark or cite this item: https://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1559
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Language: English (Original)
Available under licence Creative Commons Attribution.

Abstract

Addressing SDGs and library relevance by serving the majority: introducing innovative child/youth public library services in Zambia

Library services to children and teens have been barely existent in Zambia, even though young people account for nearly 70% of the country’s population. Undergraduate and master’s level LIS education is offered at the University of Zambia, but the programs include no courses on children or youth services. Public libraries in the nation have been poorly supported and not seen to be playing an important role in the lives of its citizens. Libraries do not have acquisitions budgets because of the misperception that book donation programs can provide needed materials, and thus the librarians do not perform the core library activities and functions of defining user needs, collection development, selection and acquisition of materials. Technology and innovation have also evaded the public library sector in Zambia. The poster will show how Lubuto Library Partners (LLP) has collaborated with Zambia’s library community and stakeholders for over a decade to address these issues and, in partnership with Government and the Zambia Library Service, create dynamic, impactful, heavily used and highly visible libraries serving children and youth. Photos and data will illustrate LLP innovations, their enthusiastic acceptance by society and the library community, and the role the libraries play in helping Zambia achieve the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

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