Rwanda

The construction of the Rwanda Public Library in Kigali, the first of the country, was a turning point in the history of this nation of the African Great Lakes region. It allowed access to knowledge, inaccessible for a long time to a population of nearly 8 million inhabitants. Replacing the destruction and death by a tool of knowledge and a fight against ignorance has been the goal and continuous achievement of this cooperative and long-term initiative.

Background

In 2000, the Rotary Club of Kigali-Virunga, with the help of numerous international partners, began the project for construction of Rwanda’s first public library in Kigali that met the international standards. Today, the library has become the symbol of the city. Containing more than 20,000 works, it continues to be a source of knowledge, progress, and inspiration for all of the Kigali population.

Our Approach

BSF has contributed to the creation of the book collection of the library as well as providing an easy access to digital academic resources.

Our Work in Rwanda

Backing the creation of Rwanda’s first public library
Objective

Education & Cultural Diversity

Start date

Status

Closed

Actions

Libraries Without Borders (BSF) contributed 15,000 works and documents in French and English for the Kigali Public Library. We have also facilitated the acquisition of 4000 locally edited books and documents as well as transporting them to the library.
Additionally, our partnership with the CAIRN.info group allowed us to provide electronic resources for the library.

Beneficiaries

The inhabitants of Kigali, as well as students and teachers.

WITH SUPPORT FROM

Financial Partners

I

Executive Partners

I

Strengthening the capacities of the African Great Lakes Interuniversity library network (RIGL)
Objective

Training & Capacity Building

Start date

2012

Status

Closed

Context

The RIGL is a young and developing network that links 24 universities in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. The sustainability of this network relies on the standardization of governance practices but also on educational content and information resources.

Actions

  • Standardization of practices in regards to the management of information and of documentary resources
  • Promotion of interuniversity research that standardizes indexing and cataloging practices and allows for the establishment of a communal collection catalogue
  • The elevation of librarians’ abilities by promoting the exchange of good practices and knowledge
  • The promotion of academic excellence at the university level by pooling documentary funds and by proposing resources that are rich, varied and complementary within the network

Librairies Without Borders will oversee the structuring of this network by organizing a training seminar for the head librarians of member universities.  This seminar will allow librarians from 24 universities to gather, to learn of work opportunities within the network and to develop frameworks together.

Apart from the standardization of governance procedures, the sustainability of this network requires centers in all countries to reinforce student exchanges between the three countries.  Along with the implementation of these courses of excellence, LWB will join forces with its partner universities in order to develop the centers of specialized documentary resources in the concerned domains.

Objectives

  • To develop training capacities, research and access to documentary resources within RIGL
  • To develop access to documentary resources that support the area of excellence.
  • To ensure the training of RIGL library directors in preparation for the creation of a network of RIGL university libraries.

Actions

  • 3 documentary resource centers were created in connection with the area of excellence chosen by RIGL.
  • A training seminar was organized in preparation for the creation of a network of Great Lakes university librairies.

Beneficiaries

  • The RIGL university library personnel who benefited from training and networking of their librairies.
  • The 150,000 students and the lecturers/researchers at the 24 RIGL member universities who benefited from better access to resources and to information.

WITH SUPPORT FROM

Financial Partners

Executive Partners

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