Amals of library Science and Ibcurentation1980, 27(1-4), 124-129.

LIBRARIES AND LIBRARIANSHIPIN SWAZILAND

Desa~ibes va~iOU8 type8 of lib-~a~ies in Swaziland. High-lights basiap~oblem8 in lib~a~y development in thataount~y. Sugge8tion8 fo~ imp~ovementof the p~esent situation a~e outlinedalongwith ~eaent move8 by the Gove~nmentto imp~ove the 8tate of info~mationaativitie8.

O. INTRODUCTION

Swaziland became independent on 6 Septem-ber 1968. It is a landlocked country withMozambique on its eastern boundary and SouthAfri ca borderi ng her on the north, west and ;,,,south. Next to Gambia in West Africa, Swazilandis the smallest country in southeast Africa.The country occupies an area of 17365 km2. Thecountry is divided into four main topographicalzones. To the west is the highland mountainarea interspersed with rivers called the high-veld (1066-1370 metres altitude). Running downthe centre of the country is the middle-veld(1600 - 760 metres altitude) which has manyb~autiful valleys, low mountains and streams.Further east is the lowland swampy bush calledthe lowveld (150-3001 meters altitude) and tothe far east is the Lubombo Plateau, a narrowescarpment with an altitude similar to themiddle-veld. Climate of the country variesgreatly from cold misty weather in the high-veld to semi-tropical conditions in the low-veld.The main rivers of the country cross all fourregions from west to east enroute to the IndianOcean making Swaziland the best irrigated areaof the region. The two largest towns of Swazi-land are Mbabane and Manzihi. Mbabane, with apopulation of some 25,000 is in the highveldand is the capital and administrative centre ofthe country. Manzini with a population ofsome 27,000 is mainly industrial centre andserves the important middle-veld agriculture.Other regions such as Big Bend, Mhlume, TshaneniBulembu (Havaelock mines), Siteki and Pigg'sPeak, although smaller in population holdconsiderable importance to the agriculturaleconomy of the country.124

VED BHUSHANInsdocNew Delhi-llOO12,

According to the 1976 census the popula-tion of the country was 522,512. With anestimated 3 per cent annual growth rate,thepopulation in 1977 was approximately 540,000.Almost 90 percent of the population is madeup of Swazis, some 6 percent non-Swazi Africans,2 percent European and the rest of various racialgroups. English is the official language ofthe country.

1. LIBRARIESRecognition of books and libraries as

essential elements in the educational process isa recent development in the African continent.The present study is based on author's foreignassignment for library service in Swaziland.Library situation in the country would showthat there are a good number of libraries in thecountry in various stages of development rangingfrom the well-organised National LibraryService down to the rudimentary libraries likethose,of CODEC (Cooperative Development Centre)and SEDCO (Small Enterprises DevelopmentCorporation) that are being managed by non .professionals or clerks.

There are mainly three major types oflibraries in the country. These are the Swazi-land National Library Service (hereafter calledSNLS), the University College of Swaziland(called UCS) Library and groups of speciallibraries, like the (Swaziland Institute ofManagement of Public Administration) SIMPALibrary, together with a number of sma11erMinistry or departmental libraries in differentdeve lopmental stages.1.1 Swaziland National Library Service(SNLS)is the largest library in the country that giv~sa nation-wide double purpose service. The SNLSperforms the functions of a public library, aswell as, some functions of a national library.Like most English speaking African countries,this service was established after the indepen-dence with the help of the British Council andthe British Ministry for Overseas Development

Ann Lib Sci Doc

LIBRARIES AND LIBRARIANSHIP IN SWAZILANDwhich provided funds for building the NationalLibrary building, as well as for purchase ofbooks, furniture and equipment. The SNLS hadits first dire"ctor appointed in 1971 with head-quarter located in Manzini, and branch librariesat Siteki, Nhlangano, Mankanyane, Pigg's Peak,Big Bend, Hlatikulu, Mhlume, Bhuniya andTshaneni.

The SNLS is under the administrativecontrol of the Ministry 9f Local Administrationand is housed near the Manzini Civic Centre in a~stn9le storey buiJding having good ventilationaR&'lighting systems. The building plan for thelibrary allows ample scope for future physicalexpansion without in any way interrupting thelibrary services. The National Library buildingprovides for the following:(i) adult reference service, (ii) the children'slending/reference service, (iii) school libraryservice (iv) office for the Director, SNLS, (v)technical processing section (vi) staff welfarefacilities, e.g. staff-room, toilet etc. TheLibrary offers its users reading/reference andlending facilities. The main reading room ofthe SNLS has a seating capacity for about70 readers.

The Library had a collection of over55,800 volumes,including fiction and children'scollection, and subscribed to 155 periodicaltitles at the beginning of 1974. There werespecial collections on Swaziland material (about300 publications) and librarianship. The SNLSand in fact most of the country's libraries useDewey Decimal Classification. The number ofregistered borrowers in 1974 in the SNLS, Manzinistood at 3016 and in the branch libraries andmobile library was 5100 approximately. The SNLShas established inter-library loan arrangementsboth with the State Library Pretoria (Republicof South Africa) and the British Library LendingDivision (BLLD) in the U.K. One large mobileunit (book mobile) and two smaller vans of theSNLS served 28 secondary schools and loanedabout 16000 books in 1973-74. The Library hadan annual recurrent budget of Rs.600,000 for1974-75'. Future plans for the development ofthe SNLS include, among other thin~s. therecruitment and training of more qualified staff,constructing a library ,building in Mbabane,establishing a branch library at Kwaluseni, theextension of mobile and school library servicesand physical expansion of the existing librarybuildings including the headquarter in order toincrease the seating and shelving capacities oflibraries. Presently the SNLS is carrying outonly two of the many fundamental functions of anational library, viz. it acts as a depositoryof the nation's literature output and also plansand coordinates inter-library lending. It

Vol 27 Nos 1-4 (Mar - Dec) 1980

should, however, strive to take upon itselfother essential functions of a national library,in future plans e.g. publication of the nationalbibliography and union catalogues, exchangecentre fo~'d~plicates and lead the professionaltraining and expertise-in library techniques inthe country, . On the pub1ic 1ibrary aspect ofthe SNLS, the latter should expand its activitiesto include adult literacy programme in collobora-tion with the Sebanta National Institute andlibrary extension activities, such as story-hours and club activities which can contributetowards the development of effective communica-tion through speech among children by the use ofaudio-visual aids. International agencies likeUNESCO,SIDA etc could be approached to provideconsultative services in this connection.

1.2 University College of Swaziland (UCS)Library Kwaluseni:

Next in order of size and importancefollows the UCS library that was built atKwaluseni in 1974. Earlier in 1971, theUniversity of Botswana, Lesotho & Swazilandstarted functioning on the Agricultural Collegecampus at Luyengo. The UCS library "is theadministrative centre for the campus libraries inSwaziland which include the Luyengo Library,Malkern Agricultural Research Station Library,Lowveld Agricultural Research Station Libraryand the Nhlangano Experimental Farm ResearchStation Library". The UCS Library is housed ina newly constructed three-storey air-conditionedbuilding which is functional and has the advant-age of proper lighting and ventilation.

The total library collection in 1974 was22450 volumes with annual subscription of 615periodicals titles in the UCS library and otherbranch libraries. The breakup of the ~ollectionis as follows:

No. of Vols. No. of periodic-al titles

KwaluseniLuyengoMalkarnLowveld

- 12000- 8500- 1650

300

23518612668

Total 22450 615The scope of the collection includes

genera 1ia in and subjects covered by the curriculurnof various university faculties and depart-ments. Dewey Decimal Classiciation system isused to classify the collection. The number ofusers including staff members and externalborrowers was 360 and nearly 8200 volumes wereborrowed in 1973-74. The UCS library had astaff of 12 members including five graduates

125

VED BHUSHAN

and others with varying professionai or semi-professional qualifications. The lendingservice of the UCS Library has been extended inSouthern Africa. The university staff alsoavails of the special facility available withthe UCS Library for photocopying service forjournals available in the BLLD in the UK. TheLibrary has reprographic aids, such as photo-copying machine, microfilm reader/printer andmicrofiche reader which are vital for thedocument supply service. The UCS library hashad the privilege to publish the first everSwaziland Natibnal Bibliography? 1973-76j withthe assist~nce of the State Library, Pretoria.The library also brings out 'Notes for readers',monthly accessions list and annual reports. Thelibrary's book budget has increased threetimes since the inception of the library in1971-72. The recurrent estimate for thi~purpose was Rs. 60,000 in 1974.1.3 Agric~ltural Libraries:1.3 The Luyengo Campus : of the Universityof Swaziland where the Swaziland College ofAgriculture is located is about 16 miles fromKwaluseni campus. The Luyengo Library is housedin a separate building and is having a collec~tion of over 6000 volumes in the field ofagriculture. There iS"a seating capacity for50-55 readers in the library which acts as adepository for the FAO publications.1.3.2 The Malkern Research Station is the mostimportant of the three Agricultural ResearchStations affiliated to the Swaziland Collegeof Agriculture. The library with a collectionof over 1650 volumes and 126 periodical titles,besides miscellaneous reports and specialpublications of the Commonwealth AgriculturalBureaux and the FAO, is housed in a two-roombuilding and serves the readers from Malkernand Luyengo.1.3.3 - Lowveld Agricultural Research Station atBig Bend has a small library with about 400volumes and 68 periodical titles and miscellan-eous reports on agriculture published in theneighbouring South Africa, the CommonwealthAgricultural Bureaux and the FAD. The libraryis used by a small number of staff members.1.4 Spec.ial Libraries1.4.1 SIMPA Library: Formerly known as theStaff Training Institute Library, the currentSwaziland Institute of Management & PublicAdministration (SIMPA) Library aims to specializein collecting. organizing and diseminatingadministrative information which usually appearsin the form of pamphlets and reports surveys.case-studies and similar other publications

126

generally known as government publications. Thelibrary is housed in single big room having acollection of over 6000 volumes and subscribingto about 100 periodical titles in fields likeSocial Sciences, Management, Public Administra-tion, etc. The library is used by all civilservants, trainees in the Institute and theInstitute Staff. The library is managed by twoqualified library assistants and has exchangerelations for publications with similar insti-tutions in other African countries.1.4.2. SCOT Library: Swaziland College ofTechnqlogy Library is housed in a newly construct-ed spacious build~ng which has good provisionfor light and ventilation. The library has acollection of over 7000 volumes 'and subscribesto about 100 periodicals titles in all technicalsubjects. The total number of readers, includ-ing staff stood at approximately 600 in 1975.The library is managed by two qualified libraryassistants. ,1.4.3. William Pitcher Training College Library:The Training college has the objective ~o trainteachers for various schools in the country.The library is housed in a single big room andhas a collection of over 10,000 volumes and10 periodicals titles in the field of Education,Fiction and'Africana'. The 300 users of thelibrary are mainly the students and staff of thecollege. There is no qualified librarian tomanage the library.1.4.4 Sebenta National lnstitute Library: Thelibrary has reading material in some localAfrican languages and has about 500 volumes,which are mainly literacy publications in addi-tion to booklets, charts, posters and otheruseful audio-visual material to support theNational Adult Literacy Programme. The libraryis looked after by a non-professional staffmember.1.5. Government libraries: These are meant toplay an important part in the flow of administra-tive information by collecting relevant publisheddata an d often restricted materials for thespecialist personnel employed in the civilservice.1.5.1. Economic-statistics library: TheDepartment of Economic Planning & Statistics ofthe Ministry of Finance has a staff of over300 civil servants who are the users of thelibrary. The library was established in 1967and has a collection of about 3000 volumes andsubscribes to about 50 periodical titles besidesnumerous reports and special publications of theU.N., the World Bank, IMF, OECD etc. in. fieldssuch as Economics, Trade Statistics and Demo-graphy. The library is managed by a qualifiedlibrary assistant.

Ann Lib Sci Doc

LIBRARIES AND LIBRARIANSHIP IN SWAZILAND

1.5.2. MONAS (Monetary Authority of Swazil and)Library: The Research Department of the MonetaryAuthority of Swaziland has maintained a small.library with a specialized collection of reprlnts,reports, journals ~nd books on menetary aspectand trade. The library is maintaining a specia-lized press-clipping servic~ and w~rk~ in ~losecooperation with the Economlc-statlstlc~ Llbrary.The library is managed by a non-professlonalstaff of the Department.1.5.3. Department of Geology Library: Thislibrary has a collection of over 3000 volumesand an equal number of reports and volumes ofperiodical titles in fields such as Geology,Mining, Engineering and Geochemistry etc. Thelibrary is used by civil servants of the Depart-ment and is managed by a qualified libraryassistant.1.5.4. Ministry of Works Library: This l~braryaims at specializing in collection of publ1ca-tions in Building Technology, Architecture,Hydrology, Transportation Tec~nology and Civi~Aviation. There is a collect10n of 2000 publ1-cations, miscellaneous reports and periodicaltitles yet to be properly ?r~aniz~d. The l~braryis being managed by a qual1f1ed llbrary ass1stant1.5.5. Ministry of Agriculture Library: Thelibrary has been established quite recently withthe aim of specializing in the collection ofAgricultural Sciences and Coordinating withother agricultural libraries for the purposeof bibliographical control and dissem~nation.of information in Agriculture. The llbrary 1Shaving about 400 volumes and an equal numberof reports and periodical titles in Agricultureand is managed by a qualified library assistant.,1.5.6. CODEC Library: This library is affiliat-ed to the Cooperative Development Centre (Ezul-wini) under the Ministry of Agriculture. Thelibrary has a stock of about 3000 books, over 100periodical titles and report~ in the field of.cooperative movement. The llbrary was establ1sh-ed with Swedish aid and is managed by a non-professional staff member.1.5.7. Attorney General's Library: The lib;aryis used by the staff in the Attorney General soffice in the Ministry of Justice and possessesa collection of over 3000 volumes and about15 periodical titles in the field of law. Thelibrary is looked after by a non-professionalstaff member.1.5.8. SEDCO (Small Enterprises DevelopmentCorporation) Library: This library has a smallcollection of books, reports and journals incommerce, small businesses and industry andis used by the staff of the SEOCO and the

Vol 27 Nos 1-4 (Mar - Oec) 1980

Ministry of Commerce & Industry. The libraryis looked after by a_non-professional staff-member.

2. LIBRARY OEVELOPMfNTS AND PROBLEMSLibraries in Swaziland have been held in

a very low profile in relation to other essen-tial services and hence the status of librariansin the country is rather low. There had beenpractically no planning of libraries before thecountry got her independence from the British in1968. The importance of libraries and infor-mation came to be gradually recognized onlywith the establishment of the SNLS, the UCSlibrary and a few other libraries, but thecountry has not granted them significant supportbecause the educationists and top administratorsin the country seem to be unaware of the roleof the library as an effective instrument foreducation and decision-mak-ing. Hence thelibrary has hardly any place in tne nationaleducational programme. This is evident fromthe fact that the importance of school librariesin the country is not fully recognized. Unlessthis is done, there will be total lack oflibrary awareness and vital importance of librar-ies and information for educational effort wouldremain only at the instructional level andwould certainly lack the cultural element whichis so important for education. Another charac-teristic observation about library developmentin Swaziland has been the greater degree ofdependence on foreign aid for capital andrecurrent library expenditure and the unduereliance upon the expatriate professionals forestablishing and running of libraries.

The existing libraries are not all doingwell for these reasons alongwith a number ofother basic problems which are mentionedbelow:i) The absence of a central/national body ora national library/information board generallyresponsible for planning and co-ordinating thedevelopmental activities in the field oflibrarianship and information sciences. Sucha national body would assist the governmentto formulate a proper national library/infor-mation policy covering such important aspectsas the education and training of librarypersonnel, setting guidelines for policy regard-ing acquisition, technical processing, biblio-graphical control and availability of publica-tions in different libraries of the country.ii) There is a lack of qualified librarypersonnel in libraries and this is responsiblefor the deplorable state of affairs in most ofthem. The authorities are contented withappointing clerks or book-keepers, rather than

127

VED BHUSHAN

qualified personnel, to manage libraries. Thenational body, jf and when formed, would dobetter to give priority to the task of workingout manpower ,requirements of various librariesat various levels for the next few years.iii) The absence of any professional associa-tion at national level that would enhance thestatus of the profession, as well as, promotethe library services in the country. Thiswould facilitate proper staff development andattract talented people to the profession.iv) The libraries are very much affected fromthe point of acquisition of library material dueto the poor performance of the publishing andbook-selling industry in the country, since thelatter happens to be a landlocked country. Thisresults in long delays in receiving publications.The exchange arrangements are also slow to workand are cumbersome. In this context the conceptof Universal Availability of Publications (UAP)with its benefits is the practical need foradoption.

2.1 Some developmentsA recent important development in the

field of libraries is the publication of theKing's order-in-council No 3(1978) being thecopyright (Amendment) order 1978, which confersthe legal deposit status upon the library ofthe UCS, the National Library and the SNLS.The order requires every publisher in thecountry to deliver one copy of every bookcoming out of his press to each of the enumerat-ed libraries with effect from 14th April 1978.2.2 Another landmark in thE library develop-ment of Swaziland took place when a seminar wasorganized in August 1979 jointly by the bostGovernment and the CRIT (Coordinating Centre forRegional Information Training -- a joint prog-ramme of the Kenya National Academy forAdvancement of Arts and Science and the GermanFoundation for International Development) Theseminar recommended the setting up of a NationalInformation Board and a network of Informati~nService in'the Government hierarchy besidesspelling out the need for a 'National Infor-mation Policy' as follows:

1) That the importance of information forscientific, technological,economic and education-al development be recognised.2) That an Advisory Committee be set up bythe Prime Minister to investigate presentinformation services and to recommend futuregovernment policy on information serves.

128

3) That in the immediate future the govern-ment should commit itself financially to allthose libraries and information services 'alreadyin existence.4) That in the ,immediate future the govern-ment should commit itself to an urgent andextensive programme of professional librarian-ship and information science training.5) In order to ensure that those personnelalready in the profession, at all levels,remain there suitable conditions of serviceand career structure be established.6) That in order to avoid duplication ofresources, there should be a free flow of infor-mation between the various information centresthroughout the country.7) That legislation to promote and protectinformation and information services be drawnup by government as and when necessary.8) That all Information Centres be'adequatelmanned by fully qualified staff assisted bytrained sub professionals.3. CONCLUSION

Library and information development is anecessary investment, since without this it isnot possible to get full benefit from a vastlygreater investment by the government in edu-cation, research, social and economic develop-ment programmes of the country.

It is time that any plan adopted for thelibrary and information development in thecountry in the next developmental plan shouldbe taken as a pilot project with well-definedparameters and a time-table should be estaplishedfor its execution with special consideration tothe education and training of library personnelas well as users. It should, however, b~,flexi-ble and responsive to change with the changingneeds and priorities of the country. Informa-tion is an essential commodity and the 'infor-mation resources centre' which may be taken to bEthe 'library' of today has to change its out-look and methods to make the information floweasy and fruitful for users. The library userdepends on the resources of a good library notonly for his special field of interest but hisgeneral enlightenment to the treasure ofknowledge.

Government supported libraries and infor-mation centres generally owe their existence tonational interests and priorities which producea resultant surge in governmental spending, yetwhen these priorities lose their national appeal,

Ann Lib Sci '~

LIBRARIES AND LIBRARIANSHIP IN SWAZILAND

the libraries may lose much of their financialsupport thus creating numerous problems forlibrarians. But it must not be forgotten that"the cost, in 'terms of financial support, ofmaterial provisions in these libraries has tobe counted and so also the ultimate cost to thenation in ignoring them."

REFERENCES1. The third annual report of the Director,

SNLS, January 1975

Vol 27 Nos 1-4 (Mar - Dec) 1980

2. Kuzwayo, AWZ and Ward,M. Directory ofSwaziland libraries. Mbabane, SebentaNational Institute,

3. Van Jackson, Wallace. Library develop-ment in Swaziland. InternationalLibrary Review, 1976, 8, 367-77.Long, .F. Raymond. The effect of reducedsupport for technical libraries andinformation services I-In Rees, Alan,Ed. Contemporary probTems in technicallibrary and information centre management:a state of the art? ASIS, 1974, 7P 87-8. -

4.

129