Knowledge Banks for the Commons from the African Perspective

Abstract

"Stand early one morning, at the side of a major road outside of any regional town in almost any country, and you will still probably see a library van chugging out for its rounds of nearby villages for the day, set to return at sundown. Be it in Uganda, Zimbabwe, Kenya, or Ghana. In most towns today, you find one or more libraries, their modest collections outshone by their ambition, their few dozen or so titles much coveted by their users. Such local initiatives occupy a special place in the constellation of world libraries, alongside some legendary libraries of much greater size, such as the one at Indiana University."