Directory Information Library: Botswana National Library Service Address: Private Bag 0036, Gaborone Contact: Telephone: 352288 Fax: 301149 Http: E-mail:

History & Collections


The beginning of library service was book boxes distributed to seven centers around the country. Each box contained 25 titles, of which a third were reference and the rest were for loan. The free service was administered by the Education Department. The boxes were moved among the centers every four months. The service was formally ended in 1950. The Botswana National Library Service (BNLS) was officially opened in 1968. The national library is responsible for all library services in the country: public and school as well as reading rooms and the postal library service.


f. 1968; nation-wide public library service; also acts as a national library (legal deposit); 221,931 vols; 21 branch libraries, two mobile; 201 book box service points; 55 village reading rooms; Dir Basamiang Garebakwena; publs Annual Report, National Bibliography of Botswana (3 a year), Quarterly Accessions List, Statistical Bulletin, Newsletter.

Sources:

The World of Learning 1999. London: Europa Publications Limited, 1998.
Wedgeworth, Robert, ed. World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services. 3rd ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 1993. p. 120.
The World Book Encyclopedia of People and Places. Chicago: World Book, Inc., 1993. vol 1. p.154.
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