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CARNEGIE PROGRESS REPORT
NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCIAL LIBRARY SERVICE
PROJECT: FARANANI - BUILDING A READING CULTURE
INTRODUCTION
The Northern Cape Provincial Library Service, in order to revitalise Libraries in the Province identified five key strategies with specific programs aimed at transforming the role of libraries in the Province.
This report will concentrate on the individual programs and activities planned in order to meet the five strategic objectives highlighted in the funding proposal and progress thereof.
TO IMPROVE THE ACCESS AND DISTRIBUTION OF LIBRARY SERVICES TO PREVIOUSLY DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES AND UNDERDEVELOPED AREAS
Implementation of Mobile Book Box Wagons
The Northern Cape is geographically a huge province with communities sparsely distributed in mostly rural areas. The distribution of libraries to these underdeveloped and rural areas has been non-existent. The idea of the Mobile Book Boxes to these areas developed in order to reach out to school going children in need of informational resources in support of Outcome Based Education. Before implementation of this project, areas for development had to be identified. Twenty areas had to be identified with two boxes each. The criteria for identification of areas have been unemployment, illiteracy levels, nearest library facility, and social conditions of the area (crime, substance abuse, and poverty).
The process of implementation took longer than anticipated - a delay of approximately one and a half months in terms of implementation was experienced. That is in the physical delivery of the Book Boxes together with the books to each area. This delay was due to the intensive process of consultation with communities, and their respective leaders. In order for the project to be sustainable, consensus by all stakeholders had to be reached. This was a process of liasing with municipalities/local governments, councillors, schools, and churches, as these organisations play a major role in the development of communities. In order for this project to be accepted, the benefits of the project to the people of the community had to be sold first to the decision makers in the areas. This not only ensures acceptance, but ownership and most importantly accountability and ultimately sustainability. A further process was establishing some of the points as depots of the nearest library in the area, which at times can be approximately 200km away. This was to facilitate the process of stock rotation. In most of the rural areas identified, schools facilities often play a dual function as an educational centre by day and community centre after school hours. These facilities have proven to be the ideal areas for the Mobile Book Boxes as the teachers have agreed to accept responsibility for the books. This responsibility and accountability was a crucial determining factor in the areas identified.
The other area that caused the delay in implementation, was the processing and preparation of books. With each Book Box Mobile, a hundred books are received free. The total number of books that the mobile can accommodate is approximately 600 books. Additional books were purchased especially encyclopaedias, non-fiction, and reference books. All of this material has to be loaded on the system, catalogued and classified and physically processed before distribution.
All areas have been launched. Most of the areas have been farm/rural schools. Each area receives two Mobile Book Boxes. The rotation of books differ from place to place depending on whether the service has been established as depot of a library, or being run from the regional library.
TO REDUCE THE ILLITERACY LEVELS IN THE PROVINCE
Adult Literacy Development Program
The Northern Cape has an illiteracy rate of approximately 37%. Library Services as a key role player in the process of nurturing and fostering reading development can not turn its back on the illiteracy problem in the Northern Cape. However, there is also the realisation that combating illiteracy cannot be done in isolation. As a Library Service we do not have the necessary knowledge and expertise to address the issue. Therefore, the Northern Cape Provincial Library Service entered into a partnership with the Adult Educator's and Trainers Association of South Africa (AETASA). A Provincial Co-ordinator was appointed to open literacy development centres throughout the province. This involved the process of identifying areas, appointment of Literacy Development Practitioners for each class, and recruitment of learners. Eighteen literacy development centres have been established. A total of approximately 310 adult learners have been reached. The students are being taught on four levels in the four languages dominant in the province namely, English, Afrikaans, Setswana, Xhosa. Specific Literacy Development material (Easy Readers) has been purchased to assist with the teaching process. The venues for some of the classes are libraries. However, due to the fact that most of the areas identified are rural and mostly farming communities, there are no libraries in the areas that could be utilised. Once again, school facilities had to be utilised. This also involved extensive consultation with School Governing Bodies for the utilisation of classrooms. The partnership with AETASA has been extremely successful. By-monthly inspections have been completed at all sites in order to establish progress.
Problems with implementation were experienced but were also overcome. This included the identification of venues for classes as most organisations requested a fee for the usage of the facility - in schools and in libraries. This matter was resolved through negotiations and by ultimately emphasising to the organisations that they also have a role to play in the social development of the communities they serve. Another issue that posed problems was transport for the learners to classes, the hours of the classes and the time frames chosen. It is interesting to note that there has been an overlap in the areas where the Mobile Book Boxes have been implemented and the areas that the Literacy Development classes are being run. An outcome thus far of the classes is that the learners have requested assistance in acquiring life skills for personal development so that they can be employed or to generate their own income.
TO ADVANCE AND UPGRADE THE DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION
Information Communication Technology for Libraries
There are 111 community libraries in the Province (excluding depots) of which only two have Internet access. This has been severely hindering the process of access to information in libraries. With the funds received from the Carnegie Corporation, eighty libraries in the Province will be receiving PC's of which forty will be receive Internet access. This program will only be launched in the second year cycle of the funding. However, most of the planning for implementation has to be completed before the end of the first year cycle. The eighty libraries have already been chosen and the forty libraries for Internet have already been identified. The Provincial Information Communications Department has been assisting with the technical aspects. On site surveys have been completed at all libraries in order to establish needs such as telephone line connection, PC point, location of PC, power supply, etc.
As sustainability of this project is crucial, a workshop with municipal managers is being planned in May 2002 to discuss roles and responsibilities. This will all be included in a contract that will be entered into with municipalities.
TO INCULCATE A READING CULTURE BY ENGENDERING A LOVE FOR READING
Reading Development Programs
The target group established is toddlers, pre-primary and primary school children. A string puppet show entitled "Wusile - the child who loves reading" has already been established. It is mobile and has been recorded on CD in English, Afrikaans, Setswana, and Xhosa. Through story form the puppet show educates children on the proper care and handling of books and also the importance of libraries and reading. In order to nurture a reading culture in this province the responsibility attached to reading has to be emphasised due to the fact that in rural areas a reading culture is almost non-existent. The puppet show will go on tour in the Province during April and May 2002. The areas chosen are those where the Mobile Book Boxes have been implemented. In order to reach larger numbers the Puppet show is in the process of being recorded on Video in Afrikaans, Setswana and Xhosa. The English recording is already been done. Copies of this will be distributed to all libraries for internal programs. This is not for sale to libraries.
No problems have been experienced here. The only issue that had to be finalised formally was copyright and ownership of the recorded material such as the CD's and Videos.
Training for Library Workers
The capacity and knowledge of many of the Library workers in the Province is restricted, as most are non-professional library workers. These limitation impacts on all areas of reading development such as, reading programs, identifying user needs, information retrieval, and also library management. If the Northern Cape Provincial Library service is to succeed in revitalising libraries in the Province, the skills of the library workers has to be improved through training. To this end a survey was completed and library workers had to submit their individual training requirements. Training needs that were submitted by the majority are: General Library Practice and Procedures, Computer Literacy, Library Management, Modern Library Practice, Displays, Children programs (puppet shows, story hours), Customer service, Toy Library, Presenting Literacy classes, Library advocacy, Information Retrieval (Reference material, Dewey Decimal Classification, Reference Interview, Community Information).
Training has already begun in General Library Practice and Library Management. Library workers have completed this aspect of training by having practical hands on training in established functioning libraries. Day seminars were also held in order to address practical issues. A full training workshop is planned for May 2002 to address all the other issues identified.
The problem experienced here is that some of the training will involve getting professionals from outside the Northern Cape. A database of training professionals is needed to assist with this process.
Provision of Material
Maintaining a balanced collection in libraries is crucial to the processes of strengthening reading habits and for access to information. There has been a gap in the community libraries especially in Reference material, Non-Fiction material, and Setswana and Xhosa material. Most of the reference and Non-Fiction material purchased has been targeted at school going children and teenagers as the community libraries are inundated with information requests. The Setswana and Xhosa material purchased is limited, as very few new titles are available.
TO ENHANCE AND SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROMOTION OF THE INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES OF THE PROVINCE
Oral Story Telling Project
As indicated in the project proposal submitted, in order to preserve and promote the indigenous culture of the !Xu and Khwe, Library Services will in consultation with the Language and Heritage units embark on a program to record the oral stories of the !Xu and Khwe resulting in the publication of these stories. Through various discussions with a number of role players it was discovered that a lot of work has already been done with regards to recording of stories, however the stories still need to be translated. Further, various indigenous languages have also been covered namely the Nama, Khoisan and Khomani San. The stories that have been recorded are mostly short stories.
As this is not the field of expertise of Library Services, assistance of experts in this field was sought. The South African San Institute (SASI) will be assisting with this project as stories that have been recorded are registered with SASI. SASI is overseeing the translation of stories and will be assisting with the publication of these stories. In order to cover all the indigenous cultures and the richness of the stories, the final product for publication will be a book on short stories. The publication of the book will be completed in the second year cycle of funding.
CONCLUSION
All the key areas of development have been covered in this report. If one has to critically assess the progress made thus far, the activities relating to the programs have been implemented or are in the process of implementation. However, the time frames in some of the programs as indicated in this report have not been met as set out in the funding proposal. This is largely due to the extensive process of consultation with communities and other role players that transpired before implementation. This process could not be avoided. In addition, in order for the programs to be successful all functional and operational issues had to be taken into consideration. Further, legal issues such as copyrights and contracts keep arising with each turn. The Legislative dilemma that Provincial Library Services are faced with currently has also to a great extent impacted on implementation, as the municipalities play a vital role in some of the programs. Agreements have to be entered into formally and contractually in order to cover the legal loopholes that exist for Library and Information Services. The time frames for the forthcoming years will have to be critically reviewed based on the experiences to date. The greatest challenge of all will be to assess the impact of all the programs and to review the outcomes in line with those expected.
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