New imperatives for librarianship in Africa

Abstract

Africa, in colonial times regarded as the “Dark Continent,” faces many challenges, whether infrastructural, cultural, or political. Despite these challenges, countries on the continent cannot afford to be complacent. The digital divide between Africa and the Western world, with its new technological innovations, has been widening. Librarianship as a discipline is invariably affected by this divide. Since having embraced a Western model of librarianship, the question is whether there can be talk of African librarianship, or a librarianship for Africa. This conceptual dilemma is further explored by a discussion of development, the role of the library, training in library and information science (LIS), the relationship between librarianship and information science, and imperatives for the future.