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Malawi
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Directory Information
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Malawi, known as Nyasaland before its independence from Great Britain in 1964, is a republic in southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Tanzania on the north, Mozambique on the east and south, and Zambia on the west.
Population (1990 est.) 8,289,000; area 118,484 sq.km. The official language is English.
History
Although some rock paintings are known to exist and to have been used in the early years of human settlement, the traditional means of communication among the Malawi peoples was oral. The missionaries who settled in the area in the 1860s used books and printing to help spread the Gospel. The first mission library was created in 1890 at the Free Church Mission station in Bandawe, followed by that of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa at Likoma. A government library is known to have existed in 1890, but there was no public library until 1950. When it opened in 1964, the University of Malawi Library System became the largest library in the country and the first to be organized along professional lines, under Wilfred Plumbe, its first Librarian.
The Malawi National Library Service was established in 1968. A good road network and an inexpensive internal postal rate for books have promoted excellent library cooperation. National Libraries and Archives.
The functions of a national library are performed by the National Archives of Malawi, official repository of the country's official documents and historical manuscripts. Under the Printed Publications Act, the National Archives is the country's only legal deposit library and contains the most comprehensive collection of Malawiana in existence. It publishes an annual cumulation, The Malawi National Bibliography.
Academic Libraries
The University of Malawi Library System is a federation of five college libraries scattered in three of the country's largest cities: Bunda College of Agriculture Library, Chancellor College Library, Kamuzu College of Nursing Library, the Polytechnic Library, and Medical School Library in Blantyre. The holdings of the Libraries have grown steadily since the mid-1960s. By 1987 the total bookstock including periodical titles stood at more than 240,000, Outside borrowers are permitted to use the libraries on payment of token fees.
Public Libraries
The National Library Service was created by an act of Parliament in 1967 to operate free library services throughout Malawi. It has seven major service points, in Blantyre, Limbe, Zomba, Lilongwe, Mzuzu, and Karonga. These stations, which in 1988-89 circulated almost 373,000 books to readers, are augmented by the School Services Department, which provides library services to primary, secondary, and higher education institutions. A parallel Rural Services Department operates 244 Rural Community Information Centers throughout the country. This service, with the nationwide postal service, ensures that users in remote areas can have access to books. The National Library Service boasts a bookstock of more than 173,000 volumes. Other public libraries include those operated by foreign governments or organizations, such as the British Council, the United States Information Service, and the French Cultural Center. All have highly regarded book collections and popular collections of nonprint media. School Libraries. Malawi has a network of school libraries in secondary schools, technical colleges, and teacher training colleges in all three regions of the country. The largest school library is that of the Malawi Institute of Education at Domasi.
Special Libraries
Government departments, statutory organizations, and private firms operate a wide range of special libraries, with varied strengths in book and human resources. The Library of the Department of Agricultural Research, which receives World Bank funding, remains Malawi's best-known special library. Other major special libraries are those of the Forestry Research Institute of Malawi, the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, the Malawi Bureau of Standards, and the Malawi Export Promotions Council.
The Profession
The Malawi Library Association was inaugurated on April 30, 1977. Since 1979 it has organized Malawi Library Assistant Certificate Courses to train library paraprofessionals. It also holds occasional short seminars and workshops. All of the 27 professional librarians (in 1987) were trained abroad, mainly in the United Kingdom and Botswana. The Malawi Library Association publishes the KIALA Bulletin. At the instigation of the Association, the government is evolving a national information policy with a view to harmonizing the country's library, documentation, and archives services into one national information system. Already, with support from the government and the United Nations Development Program, the Department of Research and Environmental Affairs has undertaken to establish a National Documentation Center and a Central Microfilming Bureau
Malawi National Library Service: POB 30314, Lolongwe 3; tel. 783-700; 185,000 general and reference works: nationwide loan service; Dir R. S. MABOMBA.
Sources:
The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. 7 Chicago :
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