Library funding : Adequate financial support for African university funding, John Willemse

Abstract

Funding university libraries in the East, Central and Southern Africa (ECS) region, as elsewhere on the continent, has been of great concern to university library administrators, managers and users. The International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) took the bull by the horns and decided, "to develop, formulate and finalize guidelines, norms and standards, suitable for practical application by university librarians/libraries." The strategies were to examine and recommend what percentage of the host university budget should go to the library; what percentage of the students' fees should be apportioned to the library; which income-generating activities would be undertaken by the library; and the system to control university library funds. To study the status quo and establish possible solutions, INASP commissioned Professor John Willemse, a LIS educator, renowned academic library manager, prolific writer and with a long experience of IFLA, particularly the section on university libraries. He undertook a survey of the university libraries in the ECS region from which certain findings were established. Recommendations derived from these findings are fully discussed in the respective chapters of this book.