Rural Community Information System sand Culture in Africa

Abstract

Public library services in Africa have for a long time operated without fully taking into consideration the needs and culture of the people they serve. This has led to the clarion call by various writers for a reconsideration of public library services in Africa to include the greater percentage of the information starved rural poor, who are illiterates and still operate within their cultural milieu. How far public libraries in Africa have tried to integrate culture in the rural community information systems is reviewed. The effort of the Imo State Library Board to provide responsive rural community information systems that recognize the local culture is discussed as a model rural community information system. The paper reviews the African cultural values and knowledge systems and the African traditional information systems and how they relate to public libraries in Africa. It also highlights the role of public libraries in cultural development, in the documentation of culture, in oral history documentati...