Libraries without Walls: Linking Libraries in South Africa

Abstract

The article places library collaboration in a South African context with some reference to the role of the National Library of South Africa, noting that one of the themes of the IFLA World Library and Information Congress 2007, to be hosted by South Africa, will be the building of partnerships. The information gap between rich and poor reflects the deep division in the South African library and information profession at the end of the previous regime, but cooperation among libraries offers one way to build bridges among the ‘island communities’ that make up South African society. The history of library cooperation in South Africa is surveyed from its beginnings in the 1930s, through the development of inter-library lending, to the creation of a bibliographic network and regional consortia in the 1980s. More recently, the unified Library and Information Association of South Africa has as one of its key objectives the development of collaborative relationships, and the National Library of South Africa, launched in 1999, sees the building of partnerships as integral to its outreach ideals. A number of obstacles to cooperation are described, but the article concludes that the changing technology landscape will continue to make it easier for libraries to do things together in new ways.