“From food silos to community kitchens”—Retooling African libraries
✍ Scribed by J.C. du Plessis
- Book ID
- 103830258
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 2008
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 170 KB
- Volume
- 40
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1057-2317
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
This article explores reasons why the Western library system does not adequately address Africa's vision for a library and why it does not meet the local needs for information. With a focus on the AIDS pandemic, the role and mission of libraries are revisited as a customized tool that is culturally localized to effectively participate as a proactive disseminator of information, specifically to support the three key public health objectives regarding HIV/AIDS, namely, to have people tested for the virus, to inform those infected about their best options to sustain life, and to support efforts to prevent the spread of HIV. A progressive Africanized vision of the role of libraries is proposed-to retool libraries from their current passive roles as the guardians of books, to active, live, and customized disseminators of socially relevant and culturally appropriate information.