Kevane, Michael2025-09-242025-09-242015Afridi, Momina, Anderson, Stephen, & Mundy, Karen. (2014). Rapid Review of the Knowledge Base Parental and Community Participation in School Governance. Banerjee, Abhijit V, Banerji, Rukmini, Duflo, Esther, Glennerster, Rachel, & Khemani, Stuti. (2010). Pitfalls of Participatory Programs: Evidence from a randomized evaluation in education in India. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 1-30. Bouda, Henri‐Noël, Savadogo, Patrice, Tiveau, Daniel, & Ouedraogo, Boureima. (2011). State, forest and community: challenges of democratically decentralizing forest management in the Centre‐West Region of Burkina Faso. Sustainable Development, 19(4), 275-288. Bradley, Fiona. (2010). Building capacity through the IFLA Building Strong Library Associations programme. IFLA journal, 36(4), 332-334. Casey, Katherine, Glennerster, Rachel, & Miguel, Edward. (2012). Reshaping Institutions: Evidence and Aid Impacts Using a Preanalysis Plan. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1755, 1812. Dafflon, Bernard, Madiès, Thierry, & Ky, Abraham. (2012). Local Public Finance of Territorial Collectivities in Burkina Faso. In B. D. a. T. Madies (Ed.), The Political Economy of Decentralization in Sub-Saharan Africa: A New Implementation Model in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, and Senegal (pp. 47-106). Dent, Valeda Frances, Goodman, Geoff, & Kevane, Michael. (2014). Rural Community Libraries in Africa: Challenges and Impacts: IGI Global. Duflo, Esther, Hanna, Rema, & Ryan, Stephen P. (2012). Incentives work: Getting teachers to come to school. The American Economic Review, 1241-1278. Dunne, Máiréad, Akyeampong, Kwame, & Humphreys, Sara. (2007). School Processes, Local Governance and Community Participation: Understanding Access. Create Pathways to Access. Research Monograph No. 6: ERIC. Elbert, Monika, Fuegi, David, & Lipeikaite, Ugne. (2012). Public libraries in Africa–agents for development and innovation? Current perceptions of local stakeholders. IFLA journal, 38(2), 148-165. Engberg-Pedersen, L. (1995). Creating local democratic politics from above: the'Gestion des Terroirs' approach in Burkina Faso. Issue Paper-Dryland Programme, International Institute for Environment and Development (United Kingdom). Forsyth, Ellen. (2005). Public libraries and the millennium development goals. IFLA journal, 31(4), 315-323. Gray, Leslie C. (2002). Environmental policy, land rights, and conflict: rethinking community natural resource management programs in Burkina Faso. Environment and Planning D, 20(2), 167-182. Hilgers, Mathieu, & Jacob, Jean-Pierre. (2009). Anthropologie de la candidature électorale au Burkina Faso (Vol. 228): De Boeck Supérieur. Issak, Aissa. (2000). Public libraries in Africa : a report and annotated bibliography. Oxford, U.K.: International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP). Jacob, Jean-Pierre, Hochet, Peter, Cheron, Hélène, Diawara, Mahamadou, Héma, Issouf, Konseiga, Romaine, & Médah, Rachel. (2009). L’action publique dans la commune de Réo (Sanguié, Burkina Faso). LOR, Peter Johan. (2015). Who was to blame? The genealogy of the “Anglo-American” national library service model. Maack, Mary Niles. (2001). Books and libraries as instruments of cultural diplomacy in Francophone Africa during the Cold War. Libraries & Culture, 36(1), 58-86. Mathieu, Paul, Zongo, Mahamadou, & Paré, Lacinan. (2002). Monetary land transactions in Western Burkina Faso: commoditisation, papers and ambiguities. The European Journal of Development Research, 14(2), 109-128. Michener, Victoria J. (1998). The participatory approach: contradiction and co-option in Burkina Faso. World development, 26(12), 2105-2118. Ojiambo, Joseph B, & Kasalu, Judy S. (2015). Development of Libraries in Kenya and Their Role in Economic Development. Ouedraogo, Hubert MG. (2003). Decentralisation and local governance: Experiences from francophone West Africa. Public administration and development, 23(1), 97-103. Rose, Pauline. (2003). Communities, gender and education: Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa. background paper for the EFA Global Monitoring Report, 4, 7. Sebahara, Pamphile. (2012). La construction des institutions municipales au Burkina Faso: enjeux, contraintes et potentialités. Bulletin de l'APAD(34-36). Stranger-Johannessen, Espen, Asselin, Marlene, & Doiron, Ray. (2015). New perspectives on community library development in Africa. New Library World, 116(1/2), 79-93.https://repository.ifla.org/handle/20.500.14598/5686This paper describes the various levels of partnerships involved in developing community libraries in Burkina Faso. The paper is grounded in the experience of Friends of African Village Libraries, a small non-profit non-governmental organization that has established and supported 13 village libraries in Burkina Faso and has grant funding to establish another 21 village libraries in the 2015-2016 period. Three levels of partnership are described. First, at the village level, FAVL has been challenged to have close working relationships with local authorities. Burkina Faso only decentralized political administration in 2006. Rural communes were established and mayors elected. But the quality and motivations of rural mayors vary widely. Funding for rural communes is insecure and non-transparent. The paper discusses a formal “convention” document that has been signed with numerous mayors, and discusses practical implementation issues. Second, partnership with national library authorities has been difficult and is constantly shifting. In Burkina Faso, public libraries are supported by a division in the Ministry of Culture. This division has been underfunded, and there are numerous allegations (including one investigation) on corruption at the senior level. There is little public accountability (no publication of reports or independent evaluation). FAVL continues to engage with national authorities, and personnel is renewed there is periodic hope for a genuine partnership. Third, FAVL partners with other non-profit organizations. These outside partnerships, with EIFL, Rotary International, and Catholic Relief Services, bring different challenges, especially in terms of reporting and accounting. The paper will give several strategies for working with such organizations.enAttribution 3.0 Unportedhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Articlehttp://conference.ifla.org/ifla81open accessLibrariesAfricaEvaluationBooksChildren