Gambia: National Library Director General Decries Inadequate Trained Personnel
From The Daily Observer:
The director general of the Gambia National Library Services Authority (GNLSA) Wednesday revealed that the Authority lacks adequate trained personnel.
Abdou Wally Mbye made the revelation while presenting the GNLSA annual activity report and audited financial statement before the Joint Session of the Public Accounts and Public Enterprises Committee (PAC/PEC) of the National Assembly.
GNLSA is a semi-autonomous public institution under the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, established as an Authority in 2009 by an Act of the National Assembly known as the Gambia National Library Service Act, 2009.
Mbye informed the Committee that the objectives of the Library are to contribute to the socio-economic, cultural, educational, as well as scientific and technological development of the country by collecting, recording, preserving, and making available, the national documentary heritage and promoting awareness thereof by fostering information literacy and by facilitating access to the world’s information resources.
He explained that the institution has long suffered from absence of qualified librarians.
“For instance up to 1993 it could boast of [only] five professional staff (three with Bachelor’s, and one with a Master’s degree complemented by two para-professionals (with the Diploma in Library Studies),” he said.
Read the Complete Article
Filed under: Libraries, National Libraries, News
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.