Whenever people think about ways to help the people in developing nations, most of the time, the first thought that came to mind would be making a donation to charity organizations which mission is to provide the people in developing nations with necessities such as clean water, food, clothes, medicine, farming animals, etc. Do people think about donating books? Frankly, not that I have heard of till my work on the inquiry topic “Developing World Libraries.” Due to the influence of the commercials being put on broadcasts by the charity organizations, my perception of the people in developing nations is that they are striving to survive with the basic needs of daily life. Books, literacy skills are seemed to be the least essential on the list of needs. However, Hamilton’s (2013) post titled “Stamping out Poverty as Well as Books? How Libraries Can Support Development” has shown me a different perspective on the matter. Hamilton pointed out that people are required to connect and communicate with others in order to improve lives through developing business, or accessing information on health. Hamilton stated the important role of the public libraries in providing public access to internet and technology devices, as well as trained staffs to provide advice. In his post, he had mentioned the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations, Twitter @IFLA) initiative “Beyond Access.” Beyond Access conferences were held to communicate with donor community regarding the work that the association is doing in developing public libraries in developing countries. This connects to another article that I found and read online, Katz’s “Libraries, Literacy and Technology: A New Training Module for Public Librarians in Developing Countries Targeted at Integrating Libraries into Literacy Programs.”
Katz (2015) also mentioned “Beyond Access”, however, the Beyond Access that he mentioned was managed by the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) and was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It is believe that teachers in developing nations are lack of skills and resources to foster children’s literacy skills, and librarians (from the public libraries) “can become literacy-resource people who can support struggling teachers.” Therefore, Beyond Access is committed to train and equip “librarians with the basic skills and knowledge to start integrating their institutions into literacy programs.” The training module was done for the first time in Bangladesh in May 2015, and Katz stated that “more information based on the behavioral changes of librarians after the training will be available in several months.” I look forward to the follow up report on the effectiveness of the training module.
After my reading of the above mentioned post and article, I narrowed my research on free or low cost online resources for the public libraries in developing nations, and organizations that provide donations and support in developing libraries in those nations.
Online resources:
- African Digital Library (ADL): According to Sharma (2009), the ADL was opened on November 1st, 1999. Its mission is to provide African learner with digitalized full text resources. It is free of charge to the residents and institutions of Africa.
- Resources for Developing Country Researchers: I came across this PDF format of lists of free or low fee access online resources that provide full-text peer-reviewed literature. I have not check the resources on the list, however, I think the resources are valuable to public libraries.
Organizations:
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Besides funding the “Beyond Access” initiative, the foundation also has its own work on “Global Libraries”, which aim to provide technologies and training to public libraries in developing countries. Below is a photo of the community information centre in rural Kenya retrieved from the website.
- Worldreader: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provides grant to Worldreader, which is a literacy organization that is piloting the use of mobile devices, such as smartphones, and Kindles in public and community libraries in Kenya. The below video is on the homepage of the Worldreader website, it is a powerful testimony of a woman who was illiterate, but benefit from the pilot program and now becomes a committed literacy teacher.
- Book Aid International: I enjoy reading the blog of this organization. They definitely have done a lot in developing libraries in developing nations. The organization also trains librarians as well, please check out this post: http://www.bookaid.org/librarian-training-in-cameroon/
- Books for Africa: I have not explore this website or inquire additional information on this organization. However, one thing that caught my attention on this website is the option of making online donation. You could choose to donate to a particular project, donate a book, or even donate a computer!
In conclusion, through my inquiry, I have learned that as the use of mobile devices becomes widely use in education, books donation becomes a secondary options. Training librarians and donating mobile devices become the focus on building public libraries in developing nations. However, as Sharma (2009) had pointed out, the one barrier is sufficient funding. Not only the developing nations are facing the challenge of inadequate funding for new technologies, developed nations (such as our own school communities in Canada) also face the same challenge. Governments of different nations might put their financial resources to matters other than education, which makes it difficult for educational section to catch up with the fast growing development of new technologies. A possible solution is to allow patrons (such as students at schools, users of the public libraries) to “bring their own devices” (“BYOD” policy). I tried to search for guideline on “BYOD” provided by the Canadian Library Association, but was unsuccessful. However, I discovered a policy book on “Libraries and Mobile Technology” published by the American Library Association. The policy book agrees that mobile technologies provide patrons 24/7 access to information, however, it also raised a concern on patrons’ privacy. It is also a concern that schools have in allowing students’ to bring their own device. My school allows students to bring their own devices, but students are only allowed to use it with teacher’s permission and under teacher’s supervision. Students are not allowed to use their devices during recess and lunch breaks. Will this school rule need amend in the future? Maybe, but at this moment, the administrator, teachers, and students at my school are comfortable with the school rule in placed.
References:
African Digital Library. 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
Link: http://www.africandl.org.za
Books For Africa. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
Link: https://www.booksforafrica.org/index.html
“Global Libraries.” Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
Link: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Global-Libraries
Hamilton, Stuart. “Stamping out Poverty as Well as Books? How Libraries Can Support Development.” The Guardian. 12 Mar. 2013. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
Link: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/mar/12/libraries-power-global-development
Katz, Ari. “Libraries, Literacy and Technology: A New Training Module for Public Librarians in Developing Countries Targeted at Integrating Libraries into Literacy Programs.” (2015). International Research & Exchanges Board. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
Link: http://library.ifla.org/1205/1/118-katz-en.pdf
“Librarian Training in Cameroon.” Book Aid International. Jenny Hayes, 14 Apr. 2015. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
Link: http://www.bookaid.org/librarian-training-in-cameroon/
“Resources for Developing Country Researchers.” http://www.idrc.ca/EN/Documents/resources-for-developing-country-researchers.pdf. IDRC Information and Research Support Services, 1 June 2015. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
Sharma, R.N. “Technology and Academic Libraries in Developing Nations.” (2009). Monmouth University. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
Link: http://crl.du.ac.in/ical09/papers/index_files/ical-38_236_520_1_RV.pdf
Vollmer, Timothy. “There’s an App for That! Libraries and Mobile Technology: An Introduction to Public Policy Considerations.” (2010). American Library Association. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
Link: http://www.ala.org/offices/sites/ala.org.offices/files/content/oitp/publications/policybriefs/mobiledevices.pdf
Worldreader. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.
Link: http://www.worldreader.org