The Botswana National Library Service

The Botswana National Library Services (BNLS) is both the national library and the national public library service. Its headquarters are in the capital, Gaborone. It was established by the National Library Service Act in 1967 and officially opened on April 8, 1968. The BNLS, headed by a Director, is a department of the Ministry of Labor and Home Affairs. The BNLS has a Board that advises the Director and speaks for the BNLS management when required, particularly on matters related to finance. Members of the Board are drawn from significant sections of the community, including a member of Parliament, a top civil servant, an academic, and outstanding members of the public. In the early 1990s the BNLS had five divisions, two for central support and three for major functions, each headed by a senior professional librarian. The Administrative Support Services Division is responsible for planning, finance, training, personnel, and liaison with other ministries and library-related matters. The Bibliographic and Research Services Division controls the book budget, purchases library materials for the public and school libraries, and processes and distributes them. It also manages inter-library loans. The National Reference and Special Libraries Division collects books submitted for legal deposit and publishes the Botswana National Bibliography. It also oversees the development of special libraries in Government ministries. The Public Library Services Division is responsible for 22 branch libraries, 14 mobile library service points, 20 village reading rooms, and the postal library service. The Educational Libraries Division is responsible for school libraries.

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• Botswana National Library Service...
• National Archives and Records Services
• the National Museum and Art Gallery, and monuments.

The University of Botswana

The University of Botswana in Gaborone was inaugurated in 1982, having been a college of the University of Botswana and Swaziland (1975-82) and of the University of Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland (1971-75). The Library supports undergraduate and graduate programs in education, the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. By 1990 the collection included more than 150,000 volumes and 1,100 periodical titles. The first phase of a new library building was completed in 1986, providing seating for 600 readers. Within the University, but independent of the University Library, is the Documentation Unit and Library of the National Institute of Development and Cultural Research.

School Libraries

The Ministry of Education has more than 150 secondary schools, almost all of them with libraries, and controls the book budgets for them. The Educational Libraries Division of BNLS cooperates with the Ministry in supervising these libraries.

The Educational Libraries Division of the BNLS provides a book box service to more than 150 primary schools administered by local government authorities, seeking to show the local governments the advantages of libraries in schools. It also oversees newly established school libraries, providing centralized acquisition and cataloguing services. It assigns professionals to help train the staffs. After the libraries are properly staffed, the BNLS offers advice when necessary.

The Library Profession

The University of Botswana has a Department of Library and Information Studies, established in 1979. It was intended primarily to provide trained library personnel in Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland, but now attracts students from about a dozen countries. At first it offered only certificate and diploma courses, but now offers a postgraduate diploma in library studies, a step toward a more prestigious Master's degree from a library school in another country. In 1990 the Department began offering courses in a Bachelor's degree program to candidates holding non-graduate diplomas.

The Department offers regional vacation courses in information technology and in information studies as part of its program of continuing education.

Much of the material on this page is taken from The World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services, 1993, Third Edition [by H. Kay Raseroka]