Librarians’ contribution to social change through information provision: the experience of Makerere University Library

Abstract

Makerere University Library (Maklib) holdings include a rich collection of data and information resulting from its multiple roles, namely: serving as Uganda’s National Legal Deposit unit since 1958, the National Reference Library since 1972, as well as its primary role of serving Makerere University academic community and managing its Institutional Repository. The institutional repository consists of the legal deposit materials and Makerere University institutional documents One of Makerere University’s strategic priorities is community outreach. To support this priority, Maklib conducts various outreach activities which have contributed to social development, for example: Annual Library day outreach since 2009, which includes school support through re-organisation of libraries, training of library staff and donation of books; a periodic health information digest has been produced through repackaging of current literature on topical health issues and distributed to over one thousand-five hundred health units in Uganda since 1997; health information literacy training workshops to equip health workers with skills to utilise information resources and improve the quality of health care provision in Uganda. This paper will share the experience of conducting the above outreach activities and their evaluation, which demonstrate the role of librarians in responding to societal needs. Furthermore, a Library Gender Sentinel Site Committee (LGSSC) was set up in 2004 at Maklib to address gender issues. Among other things, the LGSSC holds a week-long celebration before every International Women’s day and distributes information on the day’s theme to library users. Since 2012, a Mother’s space, where expectant library users take a break, was set up in the new Main Library building extension to provide a conducive reading environment. Maklib proactively collects feedback from library users about its services. This paper also shares the feedback about Maklib services which, among other things, confirmed that ‘Change is a fact of life’ and information accessed and applied leads to societal development.