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The Ranfurly Library Service recently changed its name to Book Aid International. Describes the activities of the charity with particular emphasis on matching books supplied with specific requirements within developing countries. Gives specific examples of aid projects providing books to different requirements within developing countries and of the importance of the aid to those countries.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of international library materials aid in primary schools and to outline obstacles to effective utilization for maximum literacy benefits among primary school children.

Data were gathered via interviews, observation, focus group discussions and document analyses.

Findings indicate that teachers were trained by Kenya National Library Services Kisii Branch staff on basics of library materials management before literacy materials were sent to the schools; teachers and pupils reported that development of vocabulary and better essay writing are some of the benefits of the donated materials; and culturally distanced materials and school dynamics impact negatively on the effective utilization of the donated library resources.

The authors recommend that donors work hand in hand with the Ministry of Education and other local stakeholders that it may be possible to address obstacles to proper and highly effective implementation of literacy empowerment projects.

The findings of this study are from original research and the implications must be treated as such.

This paper explores how INGOs communicate their activities and achievements. In doing so, the study seeks to increase our understanding of INGOs' accountability practices.

This paper uses thematic analysis to analyse 90 ‘leaders’ letters' (the letters that many charities include at the beginning of their Annual Reports and Accounts), published by 39 INGOs between 2015 and 2018.

This paper argues that within the Annual Report letters under consideration, INGOs' accountability practices focus on quantitative, process-driven, output reporting. In doing so, it is the actions and agency of INGOs that are primarily emphasised. INGO constituents are largely excluded from representation. Donors are presented only as contributors of financial capital. Drawing on field theory, the paper argues that this representational practice means INGO constituents are almost irrelevant to INGOs' representational and accountability communication practices.

This paper is indebted to previous important work and, building on such scholarship, seeks to contribute to the ongoing conversation about INGO accountability. While reinforcing some prior knowledge, the findings here also differ in the understanding of how donors are portrayed. The paper extends previous analyses by using field theory to show that the INGO field as considered here is a space in which representations of accountability are based on organisational and transactional factors, and does not value the humanity of INGOs' constituents. This connects to operations of power, between donors, INGOs, and constituents, and reinforces inequitable power within the development system.

Literacy is a global problem that concerns librarians and educators. This article provides resources for individuals who want to develop literacy projects. It comprises many descriptions of literacy organizations, grant sources, and book aid groups, both global and local. Many resources are available for literacy project developers. Those in this article will stimulate project developer’s thinking and planning regardless of country.

This paper aims to investigate the success and suitability of a Western‐donated school library in furthering the aims of literacy and reader development in Malawi.

A qualitative, case study approach was taken using extensive interviews with school teachers and a library assistant at a primary school in Malawi.

Contrary to a common discourse that libraries are of limited value in a predominantly oral culture, the research revealed a valuable role in providing sources for sharing knowledge by young readers with the non‐literate. Limitations of the library under study included insufficient attention to reader development and inappropriateness of materials for the local context.

The work reveals important shortcomings in furthering global literacy targets through current practice in African primary school libraries supported by international donors and non‐governmental organisations. Recommendations to improve impact are given.

This research is original in representing the voices of school teachers in the debate over the suitability of libraries for the African context and in evaluating the overseas book donation model currently practised in many locations.

This article discusses the public library system in Morocco, compiling the available information tackling the historical background of public libraries and their early work and the system that has been adopted during and after colonial periods. The main purpose of the study is to shed light on the present situation of the public library system in Morocco and also to further identify some of the recurrent issues in the public library system in Morocco.

The authors relied on a literature review as a theoretical reference in order to study and extract the available studies done previously on the Moroccan system for public libraries.

Public libraries in Morocco face various issues such as lack of available data and research, lack of appropriate funds, education in the field of library and information sciences, low rate of reading culture within the country and the high rate of illiteracy, all of which obstruct the development of Moroccan librarianship. There is a necessary reform need and action in order to help in the development of libraries in the country.

This paper is the first paper that discussed the state of public libraries in Morocco and that draws and highlights the importance of public libraries in relation with the country's development.

Public universities in eastern and southern Africa have for a long time depended largely on grants from national governments for most of their recurrent and capital budgets. Statutes of various universities also allow them to get external aid and donations mainly for capital developments, technical assistance and staff training. In the last decade, there has been pressure on public universities in the region to cut back on their budgets as a result of declining government grants occasioned largely by political and economic structural changes. Universities are responding by putting in place a wide range of programmes to generate their own income to augment the dwindling allocation from national governments. This paper discusses current developments within universities in eastern and southern Africa in an environment of rapid technological developments.

To describe the state of the library system in Sierra Leone in the recent period after the civil war, and its part in post‐conflict reconstruction.

A descriptive account with some historical, social and geographical contextual information.

The paper demonstrates how libraries have an essential role to play in the recreation of a nation's civil fabric following a period of destruction and social disintegration.

This account of library reconstruction during a period of post‐conflict stability describes a situation, the future development of which is dependent on a number of external variables. It is difficult to predict how those factors will in fact play out, but there is reason for cautious optimism.

This paper describes the pragmatic steps and policy commitments needed to restore library services in a period following a breakdown in civil order.

The paper gives an important insight into library work in a difficult and traumatic setting and provides ample evidence of how librarianship has an invaluable contribution to make in such environments.

This study uses official documents and interviews to examine the creative ways that Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Library adapts to survive austerity. To circumvent the shortfalls in books and journal acquisitions, the Library receives enhanced funding, uses UNESCO coupons and actively solicits for gifts, exchanges, and repository privileges. To sustain basic services and to have a steady supply of stationery, the library has commercialised its photocopying, video coverage, lamination, training programme, and other services. The setting up of the National Documentation and Information Centre has the double blessing of attracting books and donations of journals, and of raising funds for the running of the Library’s essential services.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the constraints of and opportunities for the role of African community libraries in development, using an ecological framework for library development.

Drawing on a review of the literature and the three authors’ own experiences, the paper critically examines community libraries, mainly from Uganda and Ethiopia, and frames the analysis within an ecological framework of library development.

There are many examples of community libraries that realize various elements of the ecological framework (context/environment, equity/social justice, partnerships/interactions, and action/research).

The ecological framework further developed in this paper helps community library leaders to critically examine their programmes and services and develop strategies for further growth, and suggests closer collaboration between community librarians, local communities, and researchers.

This paper addresses the need to move beyond community library research on the predominant outputs (library statistics) and outcomes (societal value/impact) models, adding a critical perspective of the larger social and political structures that limit and shape the development of community libraries.