First ever Library Symposium held in Windhoek
Chairperson of the Namibia Library and Information Council Ellen Ndeshi Namhila.
The Symposium was under the theme of the International Federation of Library Associations & Institution president’s Strong Libraries, Strong Societies: the role of Libraries in socio-economic development. The session profiled the development of Namibian libraries and at the same time provided an opportunity for Namibian librarians to not only learn from their international counterparts, but present papers on specific issues within the library and information field from a Namibian perspective.
The objectives of the Symposium were to bring together the dispersed community of the library professionals through a common platform to share experiences, to encourage discussion of new ideas and to facilitate interaction between experts and non-experts to bridge the information gap between developing and developed countries.
“The three-day symposium featured plenary sessions where challenges, problems and issues were probed and discussed. The session took place at a time when numerous unsubstantiated reports and research, suggest that Africa is predominantly a consumer of knowledge, but rarely produces any. It is in the wake of reports suggesting that the whole of Sub Sahara Africa only contributes 0,7 percent to world knowledge. Further it took place at a time when a number of African authors’ papers to international journals are said to be rejected supposedly on account of not being current. Namibia’s libraries need serious upgrading to meet the demands of an information society as envisioned in the Namibian development blueprint, Vision 2030. Against this background, the forum presents a unique opportunity for Namibia and Africa to share its knowledge and experience with the rest of the world”, said Chairperson of the Namibia Library and Information Council Ellen Ndeshi Namhila.
