High in the Andes of Peru a superb information service recently served the local people. Father John Metcalf, a Jesuit priest, established the service to answer the needs of the isolated communities of the alte plano, where subsistence agriculture interspersed with small cash cropping formed the economic backbone of the region.
These communities survived successfully, but Metcalf saw that a small input of information on health and agriculture could help them create a better life. So successful was this experiment in ”barefoot librarianship” that Peru’s military government closed it down and deported Metcalf on the grounds that his activities were subversive.
The project was successful as it recognised information was already flowing within the community and tried to add value rather than displace or compete with local knowledge. The project was concerned with doing something for people rather than doing something to them.
Indigenous knowledge is often linked with the exploitation of natural resources of a region, that were previously known only to the local community.
A recent statement by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) acknowledges the intrinsic value and importance of indigenous traditional knowledge and local community knowledge — and the need to consider it holistically. The IFLA also underlines the key role that public libraries and community information services can play in collecting, preserving and making available indigenous and local traditional resources to serve the community.
In the Western Cape the Library Business Corners Project uses public libraries in more than 50 communities as channels to provide information to people developing small businesses.
The idea of using public libraries to provide business information is not new, and large public libraries offer support by maintaining directories and local information in their reference sections. What makes this project different is that the local library staff are building up sources of community knowledge about their surroundings and have information resources to help entrepreneurs develop sound business strategies, limited market studies and financial plans.
A survey of a business community in the United States indicates how important a business information service can be. Public libraries were found to be important for small businesses, especially in their early stages of development. Information is readily available in North America, yet communities chose to make significant use of the public library as a channel to information.
Library staff must be knowledgeable about the pattern of existing businesses in the area and anticipate needs as the community changes if they are to respond to business needs appropriately. Everyone in a community has knowledge that might be of value to others, but the possessor may undervalue this knowledge or individuals may be ignored as a possible source.
Gathering information about the local community and identifying sources of knowledge is a vital step for anyone interested in developing a business there. The public library is often a familiar part of many communities and is accessible, so it can function effectively to collect and supply community knowledge and supporting information useful to anyone who sets up a local business.
Library business corners are intended to work with other business support services — they are neither a replacement nor a competitor.
The Library Business Corners Project has purposely chosen a grassroots approach. By involving the local community at the start it has encouraged commitment and the development of trust, with the library staff encouraged to work with the community; seen as a regional network, it supports the use of the skills and knowledge of people and the use of information technology for economic development.
The people are vital. Power is often thought to reside in the technology, but without the hopes, aspirations and vision of people in the community, no technology can enhance lives.
South Africa’s public libraries are being starved of resources. Many who control municipal budgets fail to recognise that their decisions affect more than the social life of each community — the decisions seriously reduce efforts to help the small business sector.
Access to community knowledge and sources of information is a building block for economic development. Public libraries already play a vital role in this area — but they have more work to do. Counting the cost is a one-sided way of looking at the funding of public libraries: exploring the benefits shows the other side.
Peter Underwood is professor of librarianship at the University of Cape Town