What Prospects for National Libraries in Africa? A South African Perspective

In many developing countries national libraries are caught in a vicious circle of inadequate resources, failure to perform, and lack of recognition. This article attempts to answer the question whether the national library has a future in Africa by considering four aspects: (1) the roles and functions of national libraries generally, (2) what roles national libraries can and should play in Africa, (3) factors affecting national library performance in Africa, and (4) what can be done to improve the prospects of national libraries in Africa. Reference is made to the South African situation and recent thinking at the National Library of South Africa, which is reconceptualizing itself as a ‘knowletage’ institution where ‘knowletage’ refers to the intersection of knowledge and heritage.