Libraries supporting national development goals in Namibia

The paper describes the strategy of the Namibia Library and Archives Service (NLAS) to transform the public/community library network. The opportunity to transform the library network emerged when the Namibian education sector received major funding to develop its strategic framework for the implementation of education sector requirements for Vision 2030, Namibia’s development strategy. In 2002 the Ministry of Education invited the World Bank to assist in developing strategies that will overcome the challenges in the performance of the education sector. Although the library network is part of the mandate of the Ministry of Education, the World Bank team did not identify libraries as a critical area to be developed but recommended leaving the countrywide library network out of the education sector reform. The paper describes the strategy that NLAS applied to get the library sector accepted into the Education and Training Sector Improvement Programme (ETSIP) and to secure funding for a countrywide library sector turn-around strategy, changing the focus of public/community libraries from recreational reading to institutions supporting education, research, economic empowerment and everyday information needs.