In some parts of the world the need for information services
in remote rural areas is met by using traditional modes of transport in unusual
ways. This is certainly the case in Zimbabwe, where the role of libraries is
essential in supporting education in schools and also for initiatives that
bring economic and social benefits to people of all ages.
Mobile libraries offer information services in rural areas,
but the typical “bookmobile” is limited in terms of the places it can reach if
the road network is simply not up to the job. This is true of vast regions of
the developing world and not just Zimbabwe.
In Zimbabwe the problem is being addressed by the use of
donkey-drawn libraries – simply a cart, pulled by a donkey, that offers books
and other information resources and which can go just about anywhere.
The initiative is just one element of the work of the Rural
Libraries and Resources Development Programme (RLRDP), which is a community based
not-for-profit non-governmental organization formed in 1990 with the objective
of establishing and developing community libraries and information services to
empower the rural population.
According to Obadiah T. Moyo, the Secretary General of
RLRDP, the organization has assisted in the establishment of “300 rural
community libraries, 10 donkey-drawn mobile libraries and 130 book delivery
bicycles. They provide an extension outreach service in areas where proper
roads are not available. About 105 rural libraries have access to computers.”
Donkey-drawn mobile libraries were first conceptualized and
developed by RLRDP in the Nkayi district of Zimbabwe in 1995. It is a very
important initiative that has attracted world attention, and was recognized and
commended by the World Summit on the Information Society (2003 and 2005), which
has made clear that access to information leads to sustainable development.
The RLRDP also promotes community libraries by providing
relevant reading materials, sponsoring debates in communities about issues and
problems affecting daily life, providing the means and mechanisms for
continuing education for everyone in the community, and pooling resources to
benefit the wider spectrum of the community through networking activities. All
these tasks have proved successful as they reinforce a sense of collective
responsibility for the community libraries that have been established.
© John Welford
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