The Standing Conference of Eastern, Central, and Southern African Library Associations (SCECSAL) XXIII 2018: lessons learned
| Pages | 6-9 |
| Published date | 01 October 2018 |
| Date | 01 October 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LHTN-07-2018-0042 |
| Author | Adefunke O. Alabi |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology,Library & information services |
The Standing Conference of Eastern, Central, and
Southern African Library Associations
(SCECSAL) XXIII 2018: lessons learned
Adefunke O. Alabi
Introduction
The XXIII Standing Conference of
Eastern, Central and Southern African
Library Associations (SCECSAL) 2018
was held at the Imperial Resort Beach
Hotel in Entebbe, Uganda, from 23 to 27
April 2018, with the Uganda Library and
Information Association and the National
Library of Uganda playing the host. The
XXIII SCECSAL had in attendance 220
participants from 15 countries/library
associations that included Botswana,
Ghana, Namibia, Malawi, Kenya,
Uganda and so forth, delegates from
outside the SCECSAL region such as
Nigeria and Ghana and representatives
from the International Federation of
Library Associations (IFLA).
At the United Nations Sustainable
Development Summit on 25 September
2015, more than 150 world leaders
approved the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development and the
agreement to promote sustainable
development through the benchmark
tagged Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) was signed. The theme of the
XXIII SCECSAL therefore was
“Positioning Library and information
Services to Achieve Sustainable
Development: Innovations and
Partnerships”. SDGs are targeted
towards putting an end to poverty,
hunger and inequality, improving
access to health and education and
building strong institutions and
partnership among others. In a nutshell,
SDGs cover socio-economic issues. It
spans across people and planet,
promoting peace and international co-
operation. Ubale and Yahaya (2016)
note that the SDGs provide the link
between local and international actions
towards human-centered holistic
development. With this understanding,
XXIII SCECSAL conference had 48
presentations structured under 11 sub-
themes. This paper reports highlights of
some of what emerged at the conference
and empirical investigation into lesson
learned by conference delegates.
Keynote address and plenary sessions
The keynote address delivered by Mr
Augustine Omare-Okurut, the
Chairperson of the National Library of
Uganda, emphasised that commitment
on the part of the librarians will go a
long way in working towards
sustainable development. There were
four plenary sessions titled Inclusive
Library and Information Services for
National Development; SDGs and
Library and Information Services in the
SCECSAL region; Open Science, Open
Data and LIS and SDGs and
Broadening LIS partnerships to
Achieve SDGs. These various plenary
sessions were chaired by experienced
library and information services (LIS)
professionals in the SCECSAL region
such as Prof Isaac M.N. Kigongo-
Bukenya, Prof Dennis Ocholla and Ina
Smith and so forth.
Sessions and contributed papers
There were nine sessions and six
workshops. One of the workshops
focussed on the IFLA-Africa Regional
Office. Another one was the Mortenson
Centre Workshop where participants
provided thoughts on the Community
Library Inter-Action (CLIA) project.
The CLIA project is a part of the
Libraries for Peace Initiative. It
promotes the mission of the Mortenson
Centre and United Nations Sustainable
Development Goal 16. With CLIA,
libraries can fortify their role as
community anchors by working with
and not just for communities. CLIA also
helps libraries to become more socially
driven. The Open Science and Open
Data Workshop educated delegates on
becoming more relevant in the world of
big data. Emerald engaged delegates in
a workshop on how to get published.
There were also workshop sessions
about the IFLA/BSLISE (Building
Strong Library and Information Science
Education) Research Group and African
Library and information Associations
and Institutions. Panel discussions
included the topics: Is there a gap
between LIS education and practice in
the SCECSAL region; Contributions to
SDGs in the SCECSAL region: are LIS
institutions and professionals on the
right track; and The Marrakesh Treaty
and its impact on access to information
by persons with disabilities. Refer to the
Marrakesh Treaty later in the
conference report.
All of the 45 presentations included
experiences of librarians working with
people in rural communities. There
were Poster sessions highlighting great
efforts of librarians in community
engagement. This paper presents
narratives that evolved from eight of the
presentations.
Inclusive library and information
services for national development
The presentation by Dorothy D.
Eneya revealed how the Malawi
Government has contextualised the
United Nations Convention on the Right
of People with Disabilities from the
viewpoint of public and university
libraries. The thrust of the presentation
was the ability to lend support for
inclusive education, i.e. a system that
allows children with disabilities to be
educated in the same classrooms as
other students as opposed to special
education and special schools. It also
6LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 8 2018, pp. 6-9, V
CEmerald Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/LHTN-07-2018-0042
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