PUBLIC LIBRARIES:PATHWAYS TO MAKING BOTSWANA AN EDUCATED, INFORMED NATION

AbstractPurposeThis paper discusses how implementing a public access to ICT project, Sesigo, at Botswana public libraries can help contribute to the achievement of the national goal of an informed, educated nation by 2016. It further shares ICT training experiences, achievements and challenges as the project evolves.

ApproachThe paper combines results from two sources of information, contracted studies (needs assessment, baseline and impact studies) as well as Sesigo project implementation data captured at public libraries. Analysis of this data forms the basis for the paper as it outlines the projects experiences and progress made in ICT training at Botswana public libraries.

FindingsDeploying technology in Botswanas public libraries is changing peoples perceptions about libraries especially their perceived value; that they are not just for students. It is becoming clear that even people with low literacy levels are able to learn and be proficient in using technology. Training librarians on ICTs has a ripple effect since they then train and/or assist users on ICTs, who are then able to search for information autonomously.

Originality/valueThis paper is amongst the first formal documentation of the Sesigo project. It shows the potential impact that public libraries equipped with ICTs can have on the overall desire to provide equitable access to ICTs. It also shows libraries as the natural platform for accessing e-government information thus should be supported by governments to provide access to those who would otherwise not afford it. Keywords: ICT, equitable and affordable information access, Public Libraries Categorisation: General Review

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1. IntroductionThe world over, information and communications technologies (ICTs) are transforming the way people communicate, learn, do business, and interact with their governments. Botswana has followed the trend particularly in urban areas where technology tools are increasingly being embraced by individuals, business and government. However, the majority of Batswana risk being left behind because they cannot afford to own or use ICTs such as computers and/or the Internet. As at 2009, the number of Internet users in Botswana stood at 120,000 (World Internet Stats, 2009) with just over a tenth of them actually subscribing for the service. Worse still, free or affordable public access was virtually non-existent resulting in a population with very poor access to information besides mobile voice and messages. The Botswana public library system has so far struggled to meet these information needs and in common with most developing countries, the majority of citizens, especially poor people in rural areas, are not benefiting from the rapid advancement of technology (Kariuki, 2009).

The paper explores the training component of the Sesigo project and goes further to project the impact that the project will have at public libraries, on the desired educated and informed nation pillar of the national vision. Through this impact, the case why public libraries should be made the public information access points of choice in Botswana is made.

1.1 The Botswana National Library ServiceThe Botswana National Library Service (BNLS) was established in September 1967 by Act of Parliament (National Library Service Act No 29, 1967) and was officially opened the following year for public use. The BNLS's mission is to preserve the national literary heritage and provide the public with information services for educational, research and recreational purposes through lending and reference services. The major information sources at public libraries have remained print media with some video tapes and DVDs.

The service has evolved over the years into a composite network of branch libraries, community libraries and village reading rooms. Branch libraries are the traditional public libraries built at all major population centres of the country, covering all the main towns and rural district headquarters. These have been built since the late 1960s, through the development budget from central Government. There are presently 23 branch libraries with another 2 at various stages of construction. Added to these are the newest type of libraries, the community library and cultural centres, built since 2007 with funding from an American family foundation, the Robert and Sarah Rothschild Family Foundation. Five have been completed with a schedule to deliver 2 every year until reaching a total of 20 by the year 2016. These architecturally modern facilities are built in localities which have medium population sizes. The third and final types of public libraries are the 69 village reading rooms built over the last fifteen years. These are community-owned buildings built through funding from the Ministry of Local Government's drought relief program. Together these libraries are accessible to more than 60% of the population, with more than half of the citizens within reach of a branch library. Whilst the three library types have

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emerged from different funding sources, they are all equipped and managed by the BNLS as part of its mandate. A geographic distribution of libraries and other technology public access points are as indicated in Figure 1 below. Take in Figure 1: Map of Botswana showing the location of public libraries as well as other public access venues

Although Botswana has a well developed ICT infrastructure, a majority of its citizens have not really benefitted from it. Botswana, in common with other developing nations, has lagged far behind in providing access to and usage of the latest ICT tools and resources to its citizens, and in integrating ICT use into her social and economic mainstream, despite strong infrastructure and high demand for access to information and communications. A peculiar feature of the Botswana ICT landscape is that the low access and usage figures exist in a country endowed with a developed and modern telecommunications infrastructure. There is a fixed-line telecommunications network in place including a complete fibre-optic ring that could reach 80% of the population but it is not fully utilised. For instance, the per capita ownership of wire line telephony is still hovering around the 8% mark and has been so for a decade (BTA, 2010). This situation is brought about by the high telecommunications costs, which, whilst they have been falling in real terms for ten years now, are still high by international standards. Worsening the problem are the substantial retail costs for computers and other telecommunications equipment. A standard laptop costs in the region of 6,000 7,000 Pula which may prove costly for most Batswana particularly those in the rural areas (Grand, B., et al, 2010).

In considering Internet access, the problem in Botswana is therefore not the availability of the ICT infrastructure, but rather the few people who are able to use it primarily due to the high cost of connectivity. Studies have shown that people want to use computers and the Internet but are unable to because they cannot afford it (Totolo, et al, 2008). Free public access is thus a response to the affordability question whilst providing an empowering public good to the citizens.

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2. Sesigo Project and Vision 2016Amongst the seven pillars of Vision 2016 (1. open, democratic and accountable nation, 2. prosperous, productive and innovative nation, 3. educated, informed nation, 4., moral and tolerant nation 5. united and proud nation, 6. compassionate, just and caring nation and 7. safe and secure nation), (Vision 2016, www.vision2016.co.bw) the library system supports and contributes to the pillar of 'an educated, informed nation'. The main aim of this pillar is to ensure that by 2016, Botswana will be at par with other nations in information technology and will have become a regional player in the field. Free access to computers and Internet in effective, modern public libraries could help transform Botswana along this line where people can gain access to information and communications tools for socio-economic reasons. Vision 2016 alludes to the fact that for Botswana to achieve the goal of having 'an educated, informed society' by the year 2016 the country should 'recognise the importance of information and of developing efficient information systems and networks for the support of research, education, development and communication' To this end Vision 2016 acknowledges that the country has entered the information age and should seek to venture into it 'on an equal footing with other countries'. In order to do this the country should acquire and harness the 'best available information technology, and to become a regional leader in the production and dissemination of information'. Information as Vision 2016 establishes 'must be harnessed to the best advantage of all citizens.' Consequently, the aim is that by 2016, citizens of Botswana should be able to gain access to and harness ICTs for the various aspects of their lives. Government has of late moved towards the attainment of this vision by developing and making live an egovernment portal where citizens access government information and services online. This portal is part of the larger e-government project, and aims at improving the communication and information flow between the citizens and the Government. The new portal is designed to enable Botswana citizens and visitors convenient access to Government on-line services and information. The ability to receive reliable information services and information over the Internet enhances the ability of citizens to fully utilize and benefit from government services. The new portal allows easy and speedy retrieval of relevant information and related services. Information from all ministries and authorities is presented for various target audiences: parents, children, youth, investors, visitors, businesses, and more. Thus, even if a person does not know which ministry is in charge of a specific service, he / she will be able to access the service intuitively. (Republic of Botswana Government Portal (2010)). Good as the initiative appears; the Government has not completely dealt with issues of ensuring equitable access. The medium of delivery for online services are the Botswana Post run Kitsong Centres. The Kitsong Centre channel presents some challenges for some since it attracts access fees. This then means that computer access as well as online government services will largely be inaccessible to majority of the populace hence widening the digital divide especially in rural Botswana. As alluded to by the Deputy Director in the Ministry of Local Government, Ms.Tshenolo Omphitlhetse, this is further worsened by the fact that rural area dwellers are mostly people with low literacy levels and those living on poverty line incomes. (www.gov.bw/cgibin/news.cgi15/06/2010) .Public libraries through the Sesigo project provide a complementary channel that will increase the reach of the e-gov and other on-line service to the whole country and most importantly will train and/or assist users in basic ICT skills. This will ensure that every interested Motswana has the know-how to use and access computers and the Internet.

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2.1 About Sesigo ProjectThe Sesigo project is a global development project funded by Global Libraries Initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. At the Botswana level, it is a partnership between ACHAP as the grantee of the Gates Foundation and the Government of Botswana represented by the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture (MYSC). The Botswana National Library Service (BNLS), a department of Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture, is the implementing partner. The timing for the four year long project came at a critical time in terms of extending the reach of the e-government project, by providing public access points. The plan is to deal with infrastructure and equipment installations in the first two years and then focus on transitioning from a project to a normal public library service line, run by the BNLS, in the last two years. The main objectives of the project are to allow meaningful access to computers and Internet by citizens so that these modern ICTs and information services are not only used but are useful and have measurable socioeconomic impacts on the lives of users. Library staff are trained in ICTs who will in turn train members of the public. Staff training ranges from basic trouble shooting to using computers to generate new services and make public libraries the e-government portal. The six objectives the Sesigo project has set out to achieve are as follows: To enable public access to computers and Internet services in public libraries and ensure they are widely used. The project will install local area networks, computers and broadband internet and allow free public access. This will address the issue of lack of access largely due to lack of funds to access technology. As Jacobs and Herselman said, in the global digital information age, those who are unable to access the internet through the use of ICTs are increasingly disadvantaged in their access to information (Jacobs and Herselman, 2006). To empower library staff to be effective library champions and information workers in the communities they serve - the project has developed a training curriculum which will equip public librarians with ICT skills to enable them to improve their job effectiveness as well as serve the public better. The impacts of similar projects have been documented in such countries as Chile (www.biblioredes.cl). At the end of four years all 435 public library staff will be trained, who will in turn have trained or assisted 40,000 members of the public. Sesigo project has partnered with the Department of Out of School Education and Training (DOSET) in the Ministry of Education and Skills Development who will not end help with training members of the public, but will also use the opportunity to recruit trainees for the literacy classes. To build partnerships that strengthens the library system and information society programming in libraries. Sustainability is always an issue of concern especially with developmental projects that are donor funded. Acknowledging this fact, the project has already started engaging partners who will be able to carry the project beyond the grant. These include training partners such as the Botswana Library Association who will see to it that the library profession develops further in line with today's information needs, the University of Botswana Department of Library Information Studies (UBDLIS) that will re-shape the library profession through improved curriculum, content development partners such as Ministry of Education Skills and Development, Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning (BOCODOL) and other government ministries such as Health and Agriculture, the NGO

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sector and the private sector with a focus on those that can contribute to educational, cultural, health and business content that is useful and relevant to Batswana. Funding and other support partners will also be contacted to offer financial and advisory support and also be champions for the project. To position libraries as agents of change for the individuals and communities they serve. Part of the project's mission is to transition the public libraries from the bookstore mode (where users come to gain information) to community interactive spaces where information provision is two-way. Libraries will now position themselves as the information resource centres within their communities. Through planning and executing outreach programmes, libraries will utilise information resources to serve the needs of communities in such areas as health, education, entertainment and business. To satisfy Batswana's information needs and ensure useful information is available to improve their quality of life. A lot of people in developing countries do not have access to information in particular electronic. Although, most developing countries have reasonably high mobile phone penetration rates, using mobile to access data presents a cost challenge especially with today's high costs.. According to Diga, the challenges rural households face include making sacrifices such as travel expenses and store food budgets in order to pay costs of mobile phones (Diga, 2008). The Sesigo project offers an alternative method of communication which will quench Batswana's information needs without impoverishing them. It will not only provide a cost-effective method of information delivery but will also help built and deliver locally relevant content. To position libraries as strong cultural partners for preservation of Botswana's cultural heritage. One of the objectives of the Government of Botswana through the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture is to ensure preservation of Botswana's cultural heritage. To be able to actively contribute to preserving the culture, the project will partner with cultural organisations as well as utilise the cultural knowledge of community members. Packaging of cultural content will also be done by librarians in the form of oral forums (cultural clubs and lessons) as well as written (articles and books) and digital form (local web pages, audio). As at June 2010, the project has equipped 21 public libraries with computers, 17 of which have full Internet connectivity. At the end of the project period in June 2013, seventy-eight (78) of the ninety-eight (98) public libraries throughout the country will be equipped with computers and Internet; four hundred and thirty five (435) library staff will be trained, four hundred and twenty (420) computer sets will be deployed and forty thousand (40,000) members of the public will be trained or assisted with ICTs skills at these libraries.

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Sesigo trainingTraining is a key component of the Sesigo project and will be extended to all the 435members of staff, both professional and non-professional. The acquired ICT skills will be used in training members of the public, 40,000 of which will be trained or assisted on ICTs by 2013. To complement the training done by library staff, training partners have been sought in the form of DOSET facilitators. These are also trained in ICTs so that they are able to train out of school learners in ICTs. Not only does the library provide training opportunities but also training facilities for computer lessons to DOSET learners since the DOSET facilities do not have computers for use by the learners. Training is delivered in two training cycles per year over four years. Staff members are divided into two groups namely beginners and intermediate learners. The first cycle training for beginners is a two-day class that takes learners through computer basics such as computer, network and computer window definitions and various computer uses. In doing this, teaching aids such as yellow paper folders and paper are used to assist learners to conceptualise how files are organised in a computer. Students also learn how to log in and use password. Basic computer troubleshooting is also taught to streamline logging of calls for technical support. Games are introduced as a way to engage students with something they consider fun (edutainment). More time is spent on word processing and students learn how to create Word documents such as curriculum vita, business cards and public notices. They are then taken through searching, opening and saving files. External devises such as memory sticks and digital cameras are introduced. Elements of computer security such as virus definitions, antivirus and why antivirus definition files should be kept up to date are also introduced. And last but not least, they are taken through web tools such as Skype, Facebook and Google Earth in an attempt to enhance communication and data sharing. Heads of Stations who are mostly professional librarians are given additional training which equips them with the right skills to achieve the objectives of the Sesigo project. The table below details the training curriculum.

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