Dual use school community libraries: expedient compromise or imaginative solution?
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University of Alberta Libraries
Abstract
The paper reports on a research project in a group of six dual use school community
libraries in a rural region of South Africa1. The six dual use libraries were established with donor
funding in 2001 as part of a larger project of their province�s public library service. In 2009, the
donor no longer funds the libraries and they operate under the provincial public library
authorities. The case study, conducted in April 2009, investigates the value of dual or shared use
libraries in the context of drastic shortages of both school and public libraries and the calls in
government circles for the sharing of resources.
In the South African situation where millions are out of reach of LIS, the sharing of
resources among schools and their local communities certainly is an attractive option. But
Haycock warns that the mention of dual use in library circles �not only inflames passion but also
seems to release all reason� (2006: 489). The fear, apparently, is that the temptation to cut costs
might outweigh needs on the ground. An editorial in the School Library Journal Online in 2000,
in response to government endorsement of �joint-use� in California, quotes the Californian
School Library Association�s warning that shared school and public libraries are �a politician�s
dream solution, because it doesn�t take any thought, and you�re not actually talking to public and
school librarians� (Glick, 2000).
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Keywords
School community libraries, South Africa, Public library service, Western Cape
Citation
Hart, Genevieve. (2021). Dual Use School Community Libraries: Expedient Compromise or Imaginative Solutions. IASL Annual Conference Proceedings. 10.29173/iasl7663.