Restricted . , Technical Report
PPI~ 981 -1 98315/10.1/05
Participation in the activities of Member States in the field of information
in the
~~~
Development of services National Library
by T.S. Rajagopalan
Serial No. FMWPG1/83/136
& U N t S G O United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization
Paris, 1983
S O M A L I A
U
by T.S. Rajagopalan
%port prepared for the Goverrment of the Somalia Democratic Repu’alic by the Vnited Nations Educaticnal, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesc 0)
*
U N E s c 0
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Technical Report P?/1981-i983/5jiO. I/ 05 .
~ ~ / P G I / ~ Y / ~ x (FZI jagopalan) 14 June 1983 (9 Unesco Printed in France
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Paragraph (s)
Mission objectives e . . . e . . . . . . . Findings and recommendations--sury . . . ., ., . . .
NATIONAL LIBRARY --S ITUAT ION
Lack of development . ., . . . Facilities . e . e . . . . Collections . . ., ., . ., - . . . . ., . Staffing e D . - * . - Libraryuse . . . . - . - . - - . -
CONSULTANT'S ACTIVITIES . e . . . a . ., . . Constraints . . . . . e . . . . . . . . . . a - . . Book collections--organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . Staff training in library routines . . . . . e . ., e
NATIONAL LIBRARY--DEVELOPMENT CONS IDERATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS . National library's role and functions e . a ., ., . Scale of development suggested . Collections . . . a . . Premises - . e a . ., ., o . a
Furniture and equipment . . Staffing. ., - . Financing * . o . - . - . ., ., .
RECOMMENDATIONS 0 . 0 0 0 0 0 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 0 0 0 0 .
Objectives and development . . . a .,
Development action . . . . . Policy-making . . . . . Collections . . . e . . . . e
Facilities . . ., . . . . . . . a . . . Publications and services . . . . . . . . . . . External aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . Development planning . . . . . . .
1- 3
1 2, 3
4-9
4 5, 6 7 8 9
10-19
10, 11 12, 14 15-20
21-37
21-23 24, 25 26-29 30, 31 32, 33
36-38 34, 35
39-50
39 40 41 42-45 46, 47 48 49 50
INTRODUCTION
Mission objectives
1. At the request of the Government of the Somali Democratic Republic Unesco
consultancy mission to advise the National Library in Mogadishu on developing its services and to assist it in organizing the cataloguing of its books. The mission, arranged by Unesco's General Information Programme Division, took place from 10 October to 7 November 1982.
provided, under its 1981-1983 Participation Programme, a one-month
Findings and recommendations--summary
2. Although Somalia's economic development plans for 1974-1978, 1979-1981
have so far not become available. The present rented premises are unsuitable, proper furniture and equipment for stacking and using the collections are lacking, the staff are unqualified, and there is no regular acquisition budget, the 7,000 odd English, Italian and Arabic volumes now forming the stock being mainly random gifts.
and 1982-1986 included development of the National Library the funds needed
3. The consultant recommended that development of the National Library should take place on the following lines:
Policy :
A National Library Board, with due representation of sectors concerned, should be established to advise on development and to formulate policy;
Planninu:
Plans should initially be made for a 5-year period; a detailed Project Document should be prepared for the development proposed, and suitable development planning and implementation units should be established;
Co 11 ec t ion s :
During the 5-year period the Library's collections should be progressively built up to a total of some 140,000 items, the approximate distribution being:
Somali documents 15 , 000 II 50,000 Arabic
General collection 50,000 Reference " 5,000 Other items 21,000
Total 141,000
The Library should also in the 5th year, be in receipt of about 1,000 newspapers and periodicals, of which 200 might be free.
National bodies should be required to supply the Library with copies of their publications, and governments and international organizations, especially Arab ones, learned bodies and other institutions should be approached for the supply of selected material.
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Facilities:
Arrangements should be put in hand forthwith to provide the Library with a duly furnished and equipped building of some 3,500 sq.m. floor area, with provision for later extension.
Staff
The Library's staff should be progressively increased from the present 6 to 47 (of whom 25 would be supporting staff) and appropriate training should be given;
Publications and services:
The Library should publish a Somali national bibliography when feasible and develop the capacity to provide bibliographical services;
External aid:
External financial aid and technical assistance for developing the Library should be sought from international and bilateral sources;
Financing:
Provision should be made for capital investment in the Library's development during the 5-year period to the amount of some So.sh. 20 million, and for the recurrent budget in the 5th year to approach So.sh. 1,000,000.
NATIONAL LIBRARY--SITUATION
Lack of development
4. The National Library of Somalia was established in 1975 but is so far
the authorities have introduced library legislation and the country's successive economic plans for 1974-1978, 1979-1981 and 1982-1986, included provision for its development. However, the financing required for this has so far not been made available.
little developed. Recognizing the need for and importance of the Library,
Facilities b
5. The library is at present housed in unsuitable rented accommodation. The Ministry of Culture and Higher Education--the authority responsible--has
been seeking a site for a permanent library building and appears likely shortly to acquire one, and thereafter to begin action for the erection of a building. No definite information, however, is available on building proposals.
6. There is no proper furniture and equipment for housing the collections and
printed forms are not available. This lack, combined with the unsuitable premises, has contributed to the poor maintenance and display of the collections, meagre as they are. While reference books have been kept in a separate sequence books have been classified and catalogued, and have been shelved without any order.
for rendering reader services and necessary articles of stationery, and
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Collections
9. The library is open from 9.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and from 5.00 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. On an average about 20 readers visit the library each session, their
main interest being in the newspapers and general magazines as the book collection are of little significance. However, should the library improve its stocks and services, there is some evidence that it would attract serious readers.
CONSULTANT'S ACTIVITIES
Constraints
10. Uncertainty as to what national or external resources might become available for the library's development, and when, and the lack of specialized library
planning and advisory mechanisms limited the scope of the development advice which the consultant could usefully give during a one-month mission. Similarly, the lack of trained staff and the absence of the library's head restricted the assistance which he could give in organizing and cataloguing the books, since operational routines would be difficult to establish.
11. Nevertheless useful activities proved possible in three areas: organizing the collections, initiating staff into elementary routines and discussing and
defining development problems and prospects (the next section of this report deals with development).
Book collections--organization
7. The library has no committed purchasing budget or acquisition programme
stock of some 7,000 volumes is characterless, having been acquired mostly from random gifts of English, Italian and Arabic books. A few English and Italian magazines, of a general and popular nature, are being obtained on subscription through a local bookseller. It is disappointing that the library has no worth while collection of Somali documents.
for books and other publications, and its intake is haphazard. Its present
Staffing
8. The National Library has so far been without any qualified staff but its head is at present undergoing advanced library training in India and on her
return will be in a position to promote the library's development. Otherwise the staff consists of one untrained graduate and four secondary school leavers (one with some short training in library work) who work in two shifts.
Librarv use
12. Since general upkeep and cleanliness of the library was far from satisfactory and the library though likely to remain in its present location for some
time to come, needed immediate improvement, the consultant undertook the task of completely reorganizing the collections and of making the library neat and clean. The reference collection, kept in a separate room, was organized in a broad decimally-classified order and the shelf arrangement was made clear by suitable labels.
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13. In the general collection Somali, Italian, Arabic and other publications
This done, the remaining publications were taken from the shelves, dusted, cleaned and sorted, first by main classes and then in m r e detail. They were then arranged on the shelves in a decimally-classified order, adequate spaces being left for future additions. Owing to shortage of time no attempt was made to write the class number in each book but a list of classified headings was prepared, with their respective class numbers (broad numbers and not co- extensive class ones), and the staff were advised to write the numbers in the books later. Again the shelf arrangement was shown by numerous labels.
were mixed up and had first to be separated and put in different sequences.
4
14. The Italian and Arabic collections could not be organized owing to
was not of any worthwhile character was kept in a separate sequence. The general upkeep of the reading area and the display of current magazines etc. were also improved. The impact of the order arrangement of books on the shelves was immediately visible, as users of the library became curious and began to scrutinize the collections in their new and more helpful arrangement.
. shortage of time and language difficulties. The Somali collection, which
Staff training in library routines
15. Some simple routines for conducting the library's work were suggested to the staff, with explanations, illustrations and written notes. These
routines included maintaining proper accession records, noting the accession number on books and other library records, and stamping the books with the library's property seal. At present separate accession registers are maintained for Reference, Somali, Arabic, Italian and General collections, the details not being recorded properly or with any continuous numbering. A bibliographical data sheet was designed which would serve both as an accession record and as a worksheet for the technical processing of books,and the staff were advised to prepare such a sheet for each book. Explanations and practice were given also in recording the informtion on the bibliographical worksheet in a standardized and uniform manner.
16. The library has only the 10th abridged edition of the Dewey Decimal Classi- fication scheme. As the books are for now to be classified only broadly, the
abridged edition may serve for the time being. However, the need for following the latest full edition (the 19th) as a permanent measure was emphasized. The use of the abridged edition and the assignment of class numbers for various subjects were explained. Further, a list of classified headings likely to be met with in the present collections, with corresponding class numbers in DC schedules, was prepared and given to the staff. With the help of this list, class numbers for most of the titles in the present collections could be assigned without much need to consult the DC schedules. book numbers using the first three letters of authors' names was suggested. The staff were advised to write the call. number on the data sheet, on the reverse of the title page and on the spine of the books, as well as in other library records.
c
Apart from using the class number, assigning
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was recommended. When writing up the worksheet the staff were advised to give the personal and corporate names of authors, and all other essential catalogue information, in a standardized manner. At present there are no means available in the library for giving subject headings to books and the staff were advised to assign such headings in ordinary language, after analysing the thought content of the books. The number of subject headings should not be more than two or three for each book, and should be noted on the bibliographical worksheet.
For cataloguing, preparation of three sets of cards--the main entry cards (the classified cards), the author cards and the subject heading cards--
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18. With all the cataloguing details thus noted on the worksheet the preparation and typing of the catalogue cards becomes a simple routine matter. The
catalogue cards should befiled in the catalogue cabinet in classified author and subject heading sequences. After classification and cataloguing are done the books should be prepared for shelving, and the steps involved in this connection were explained, as were essential details of shelf arrangement labelling, stack maintenance etc. The Reference, General, Somali Arabic and Italian collections should be maintained separately for the time being.
19. Some simple routines were suggested also for maintaining records for the
display of current issues and for the maintenance of back issues, was pointed out. receipt and control of periodicals and newspapers. The need for the proper
20. Books are not at present issued on loan nor should they be in the future.
visitors' register, for the purpose of compiling statistics, was advised. However, requests €or inter-library loans could be met. Maintenance of a
NATIONAL LIBRARY--DEVELOPMENT CONSIDERATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
National Library's role and functions
21.
this accessible to readers. It needs also to satisfy needs for other works on the part of various groups of library users, and to provide leadership, advice, guidance and assistance in the development of a national library service based on a country-wide network of libraries.
The National Library's principal aim should be to help preserve Somalia's cultural heritage by acting as a depository for its literature and making
22. In performing these tasks essential functions of the National Library would be that it should:
maintain central collection of outstanding nationals literary works;
stock copies of foreign literary works to the extent needed to support the country's educational and development programmes;
stock copies of Somali publications as may be required by copyright or other laws; .
publish a national bibliography;
serve as the national bibliographical centre;
compile a comprehensive catalogue of national publications.
23. Other functions desirable would include:
(a) serving as a centre for inter-library lending;
(b) operating an international exchange service;
(c) initiating research in library techniques;
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(d) undertaking professional training in librarianship;
(e) offering bibliographical and other assistance to libraries of various kinds ;
(f) serving as a planning and co-ordinating centre for the country's library and bibliographical services.
J Scale of development suggested
24. The population of Somalia may be taken as 4.5 million, of whom half may
500,000. Active users of the National Library would be mainly the literate population in Mogadishu aged about 18 to 60 years, male being predominent. Reading is so far little established as a habit since the Somali language has been a written one only since 1972 and the literary output in it has been very small.
be assumed to be literate. The population of Mogadishu may be around h
25. While the National Library needs to make a fresh start, current financial constraints and shortage of qualified staff make any large scale develop-
ment of it impossible during the next five years. Any scale of development proposed must therefore be realistic and that suggested below €or the next five years attempts to reconcile established standards for collection development, staff, building, furniture and equipment, finance etc., with practical considerations.
Col 1 ection s
26. Somali documents of colonial and pre-independence periods may not exceed 10,000 items at most. Only a few of these may now be available in the
country and it would be difficult to obtain originals or photocopies from libraries, documentation centres and dealers abroad. Owing to lack of adequate printing and publishing facilities the current output of Somali publications has been small and mostly in mimeographed form. On an average some five hundred items may be published annually.
27. Arabic is the second official language of the country and the National Library would therefore be expected to maintain a comprehensive Arabic
collection. Possibilities are good that Arab countries might send the National Library their publications free of cost. In view of Somalia's historical relation- ship the library could also hope to get Italian publications with little outlay.
28. The extent of the collections which might be built up in five years could b
be of the following order:
Totai Year 1 st 2 nd 3rd 4th 5th Items
Somali documents 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 15,000 Arabic documents 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 50,000 General collection 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 50,000 Reference collect ion 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 5,000 Periodical (bound volumes) 500 1,000 1,000 1,500 2,000 6,000 Reports, bulletins, etc. 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 15,000
Total items 27,500 28,000 28,000 28,500 29,000 141,000
Periodicals and newspapers (current) 300 500 500 750 1,000
~ ~ ~ ~ _ _ _ _ _ ~~ ~~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~
Acquisition of such collections might be financed by a global 5-year grant plus an annual recurrent allocation.
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29. Somali documents may be expected to be available free, as may also many Arabic ones. General and reference works, as well as reports, might be obtained
on an exchange or complementary basis. Even so, for an annual acquisition of some 5,000 items and for subscribtions to periodicals and newspapers provision may be needed of the following order: (in SO. Sh. 000s).
Acquisition
5,000 items at So. sh. 300
Total Year 1st 2nd 3 rd 4th 5th
1,500 1,500 1,500 1,.500 1,500 7,500
Periodicals and news- papers at So.sh.1,000 2 00 4 00 400 600 800 2,400
Total 1,700 1,900 1,900 2,100 2,300 9,900
Premises
30.
to be expected that the library will grow to any very large size, so its premises may be planned to be on a modest scale for now, with provision for expansion, perhaps by construction of a multi-storey annexe as and when demand arises. The building to be planned now might have a floor area of some 3,500 sq. m. comprising:
The authorities are about to acquire a site for a building for the National Library but details are not available. During the next ten years it is not
stack area 2,000 sq.m. reading area 250 sq.m. periodicals room 300 sq.m. staff area 250 sq.m. others 700 sq.m.
Total 3,500 sq.m.
31. The building might be of modular construction to allow flexibility in future expansion. The accommodation above should meet requirements for a
ten-year period. On the basis of So.Sh.3,000 per sq.m. its total cost would be around So. Sh. 10 million.
Furniture and equipment
32. The new building will need library furniture adequate in quantity and
periodicals display rack, newspaper stands and catalogue cabinet. About So. Sh. 1,000,000 should be foreseen for furniture.
quality, some important items being book racks, readers' tables and chairs,
33. Since introduction at present of library automation would be premature,
have, in duplicate at least, plain paper copiers, microfilm cameras, microfiche/ microfilm readers and fitted dark rooms. A stencil duplicator, an IBM electric typewriter and some ordinary typewriters are essential. Kardex, linedex and card duplicator equipment would be needed, and some small-scale binding equipment would be desirable.
acquisition of D P equipment is not proposed. The Library should however
Staff ina
34. Successful development of the National Library will depend upon its staff being adequate in numbers and quality. Since persons qualified in library
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work are at present scarce in Somalia a staff development programme should be foreseen. The following table shows estimated staffing needs (after the first year figures are for annual additions):
Year 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
Total - Category
Director 1 1 Heads of sections 1 1 1 3 1
Prof e s sional Assistants 2 2 2 1 1 8 Junior Assistants 2 2 2 2 2 10 Supporting Staff 5 5 5 5 5 25
Total 11 10 9 9 8 47
35.
fessional assistants should also become so qualified but, for the' present, graduates might be recruited and given semi-professional training locally. The junior assistants could be secondary school leavers with semi-professional training. The staff development programme should begin forthwith.
The first staff members to become professionally qualified (in postgraduate courses abroad) should be the Director and the section heads. Later the pro-
Financinp
36. On the basis of monthly salaries of So.Sh.2,000, 1,500, 1,200, 1,000 and
junior assistants and supporting staff, recurrent costs for the staff development proposed above would rise from So.Sh.130,800 in the first year to 237,600, 326,400, 418,800 and 493,200 respectively in the 2nd to 3rd years, a total of 1,606,800 for the first 5-year phase.
600 respectively for the Director, section heads, professional assistants,
37. Capital and recurrent costs for this phase would be of the following order (in So.Sh. thousands):
Years 1 st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
Total - Item - Staff salaries Building Furniture Equipment Books Supplies, binding Contingencies
Total
0,131 0,238 0,326 0,419 0,493 1,607 1,000 4,000 4,000 1,000 10,000
0,300 0,500 0,200 1,000
1,700 1,900 1,900 2,100 2 , 300 9,900 0,200 0,200 0,100 0,500
0,100 0,200 0 , 200 0,500 0,100 0,100 0,100 0,100 0,100 0,500
2,931 6,238 6,926 4,519 3,393 24,007 4
38. The foreign exchange component would amount to about half of the expenditures mainly for furniture, equipment and books. Figures for this last item include
distribution of a block grant for initial development of the collections as well as recurrent acquisition expenditures. Most of the operational expenditures will, of course, be incurred only after the building is erected and occupied,
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RECOMMENDATIONS
Objectives and development
39.
its functions, collections, facilities, staffing and expenditures.
Recommendations for the National Library's objectives and development are stated or implicit in the foregoing section, particularly in respect of
Development act ion
40. To achieve the development suggested in the previous section the consultant made a number of recommendations for specific action in respect of policy-
making, collections, facilities, staff training, publications and services, external aid, and development planning and implementation.
Policy-making
41. The Ministry of Culture and Higher Education may wish to consider establishing
advise it cri the developmint of the National Library and to formulate policies. a National Library Board, comprising representatives of all sectors concerned to
Collect ions
42. At least one copy of all publications by government ministries, departments and
to the National Library. Previous publications should also be obtained to the extent available. Requests should be sent to the governments of all Arab countries and bodies such as the Arab League and Alesco to place the National Library on their mailing lists for publications.
agencies, autonomous organizations, academic institutions etc., should be sent
43. It is an essential responsibility of the National Library to procure and
colonial periods. These are now mostly unavailable in the country. However, a list of such documents which should be obtained could be completed from existing bibliographies of Somali studies and from the catalogues of major Western libraries specializing. in African studies, Attempts could then be made to obtain the documents, or photocopies of them.
maintain a collection of past documents on Somalia, especially those of the
44. Request letters should also be sent to international governmental and non- governmental organizations , national governments, and learned bodies and
academic institutions abroad to obtain their publications, gratis or on an exchange basis. The assistance of Somali embassies abroad and foreign embassies in Somalia could also be sought for this purpose, The library might consider early starting to obtain and keep copies of Somali publications to offer in exchange,
45. Systematic acquisition should be started of a collection of foreign publications.
an essential minimum of foreign periodicals and newspapers should receive attention, In this connection, development of a core reference collection and receipt of
Facilities
46, Arrangements for the construction of premises for the National Library should
equipped. For the design of the building the advice of a library expert should be obtained.
be completed as a matter of urgency and the building erected, furnished and
- 10 - Staff traininu
47. Arrangements should be made to secure fellowships of two years' duration for three graduate staff members (one in each year beginning from 1984) for
higher training abroad in library science. About six secondary school leavers who show aptitude and motivation for library work should be selected for service in the National Library and given about three months' intensive training locally for library work.
Publications and services
48. Somali National Bibliography should be compiled and published when feasible. Further, the library should develop the capacity to provide bibliographical
services, such as compiling bibliographies on specific topics relating to Somali and other studies in advance or on request, and preparing a comprehensive catalogue of publications available in the country.
b
External aid
49, External aid--grants, loans, credits, technical assistance--for developing
sources. the National Library should be sought from international and bilateral
Development planning
50. A detailed Project Document should be drawn up for the library's development,
established. and suitable development planning and implementation units should be
i
