African Librarianship In The Beginning Of The 21st Century Current Situation In West Africa

The paper discusses the state of Librarianship in the West African SubRegion taking note of the contemporary practices especially in the public and university libraries. It provides a brief SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the Library and Information Sector in West Africa and various interventions by the government and private sector that have facilitated the development of the profession. It highlights such areas as education and training of librarians, Continuing Professional Development of librarians, ICT applications in libraries, information resources and services, collaboration, library funding, management and quantity control, publishing and book chain, and the role of Library Associations. It was observed that even though a lot had been achieved in the last decade, a lot more still needs to be done especially in the areas of funding, ICT applications, quality control and collaboration for librarianship in the sub-region to cope with the exigencies of the 21s t century. The paper suggests ways to promote the development of the profession in the sub-region through strategic public private partnerships, advocacy and effective government policies, amongst others. It concludes by advocating for the need to have a government recognized agency that regulates the practice of the library and information profession as a way of ensuring quality control.

Get Full Work

Report copyright infringement or plagiarism