School/Community Libraries: is the Duality Possible?

Paper presented at the Drilldown Session ?E? of the Africa Library Summit 2011 held at Misty Hills Hotel, Conference Centre and Spa, Muldersdrift, Gauteng, South Africa from Wednesday 11th to Friday 13th May 2011School/Community libraries are veritable tools for rural development. Their all-inclusive and dual services have evidenced this to everyone in the communities they serve who might be interested in their services. Children are particularly a distinct and active group benefitting from the services provided by school/community libraries. They use the libraries for recreational reasons through reading books and magazines, listening to book talks and stories and participating in library-based games and other light activities. Through such library services,children grow up already used to reading and libraries, having established a good base for ardent readers as they slowly enter adulthood. Adults alike, also enjoy the library activities that usually come in packages for recreational, educational, cultural and informational reading. Other activities such as study circles offer the adults an opportunity to participate in the lifelong continuing education process. The duality of school/community libraries is therefore not only possible, but an emerging phenomenon in rural Africa