adminLeonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter
THERE is widespread neglect of libraries in Zimbabwe, the president of the Zimbabwe Library Association Lantern Fusire (ZimLa) has said. The librarian said this on the sidelines of the week-long 48th annual ZimLA conference that was held under the theme “Working smarter and adding value: Library services in a new paradigm”.
The conference ended in Victoria Falls on Saturday.
A total of 80 librarians from learning institutions, government departments, local authorities and other entities attended the conference which had some of the speakers drawn from the International Federation of Libraries Association.
Fusire said the meeting was a success as they tackled a number of crucial aspects but he bemoaned the neglect of libraries and lack of concern for librarians by authorities. “Our concern is that while we are a vibrant profession, there is glaring lack of support of all types of libraries. If you look at budget for libraries and also look at the National Libraries and Documentation Centre it’s been neglected. There are only five people working there yet 20 years ago there were more than 30 librarians.
“We need recognition as a profession not only financially but also in national offices because there is a misconception that we should be stuck to books which is why our theme this year calls for a paradigm shift. We want to be recognised in various sectors like in schools, government libraries, and public libraries,” Fusire said.
He said they had come up with a number of recommendations and added that they had also resolved to make an impact and contribute towards government’s economic blueprint Zim-Asset.
Fusire said they resolved to transform the sector to be able to transmit information through modern technology.
“We agreed we should maximise use of social media and promote access to information using modern technology because we understand we are the people to promote information and as such we should work with every government sector,” he said.
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