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Effects of the Civil War and the Role of Librarians in Post–War Reconstruction in Sierra Leone
John Abdul Kargbo
Abstract: This article is focused
on the role of librarians
in reconstruction
in Sierra Leone.
It outlines present
and potential services
which librarians
can modify and offer
to clientele amidst
challenging circumstances.
No library should underestimate the potential good that
its resources can do. The right resources at the right
time for the right individual can make a difference.
Librarians, therefore, need to find ways in which their
resources can be rightly placed and used in [the] post–war
reconstruction era.
 Introduction
Sierra Leone covers an area of 72,000 square kilometers
and is located along the west coast of Africa bordered
by the Republic of Guinea to the north and north–east,
by the Republic of Liberia on the south–east and
on the south–west by the Atlantic Ocean and between
longitude 10.5° and 13° W and latitude 7° and
10° N. The 2001 and 2002 UNDP Human Development Indexes
ranked the country as the least developed in the world.
The country is divided into three provinces plus the
western area; each of the provinces is subdivided into
districts. It has an estimated population of 4.6 million
growing at an annual rate of 2.6 percent. There are over
thirteen ethnic groups, with the largest being the Mende
and Temne, while Krio is the lingua franca. The
1980s saw the country in rapid economic decline because
of an inefficient trade system and great undiscipline
in public sector management. From 1991 to 2001 the country
was plunged into civil war which had devastating effects.
The Civil War and Its Effects
The decade–long war, which erupted on March 23rd
1991 east of the country, was a spillover from Charles
Taylor's NPFL war in neighbouring Liberia. It arose as
a result of unchecked corruption, bad governance, deprivation
and the elimination of a vast majority of the population
especially those in rural areas, the systematic dismantling
of democratic institutions, social injustice and a culture
of impunity in plundering state resources. It, however,
ended with the disarmament of over 70,000 ex–combatants
and the subsequent destruction of arms and ammunition
in January 2002.
The war was traumatic for the people of Sierra Leone.
Many people lost their lives; properties were destroyed,
thousands displaced while others were forced to seek
refugee status in the sub–region. Coupled with its aroused
objective of wiping out corruption, political and social
ineptitude, underdevelopment and widespread poverty,
was its attendant problem of human rights violation and
the break down of law and order. Progressive voices were
silenced by brute force, thus resulting in a culture
of silence. [i]
". . . the literacy rate fell
sharply below 32 percent, since there was no schooling
in most parts of the country."
The civil war severely hit the socio–economic
and political order. The economy remained precarious;
agriculture was seriously undermined while prices of
goods escalated and unemployment dominated the labour
force. Poverty became widespread as living standards
fell especially among the poorer segments of society.
Against this backdrop, smuggling, especially of diamonds,
remained pervasive and debilitating. [ii] Similarly,
the country's physical and social infrastructure was
affected. Road networks were destroyed and lack of maintenance
resulted in a deteriorated power supply system. Human
resources development was neglected while the literacy
rate fell sharply below 32 percent, since there was no
schooling in most parts of the country. In the civil
service, the quality of service declined as the majority
of the middle and lower level staff lacked adequate education
and were preoccupied with second jobs due to poor salaries.
The public health sector was left in an appalling state:
hospitals, health centres and clinics were looted and
left unguided, understaffed and riddled with corruption.
Health services were limited in many parts of the country
and access depended entirely on how much one could afford
to pay. So much devastating effects did the war cause
that by 2003 the country was ranked 175th in the UNDP
Human Development Index, with a life expectancy at birth
of 34.5 years (2001), while the adult literacy percentage
stood at 36 percent of those aged 15 and over (2001). [iii]
However, the euphoria that greeted the outbreak of
the civil war could only be overcome with the creation
of a need for a new set of priorities that would address
such pressing issues as peace and reconciliation, health,
education, infrastructural development, unemployment,
agricultural inefficiency and an effective price control
system. The provision of adequate, relevant, timely and
accessible information is a pre–condition for development
as well as the outcome of development. Post–war
reconstruction cannot take place without the ideas and
notions embedded in documents which form the basis of
our informed knowledge. To this end libraries are crucial.
Information and Post–War Reconstruction
As the country is in the throes of post–war reconstruction,
rehabilitation and resettlement, the desperate need for
sustainable peace and security should not be overemphasized.
The struggle and challenge for peace and its enhancement
should be the responsibility of both the state and the
citizenry, even though the former is expected to play
a leading role in ensuring that all the necessary and
requisite mechanisms for achieving peace are firmly in
place.
In building peace all over the world and in Sierra
Leone in particular, there is a need for accurate, reliable
and helpful information. Information is an essential
resource for development, human rights promotion, conflict
resolution, peace and security. The availability of information
is, at the level of governance, a major yardstick to
measure accountability, transparency and predictability
in a democratic society besides its impact on the economic
sphere. Regular and smooth communication channels through
which healthy and sound information flows can lay the
foundation for the effective functioning of a democratic
system. Information promotes and empowers citizens' participation
in the democratic process; it maintains the Rule of Law
and creates a viable outlet for the injection of public
opinion. Information informs the policy–making
process of political leadership, all of which nurtures
the building of sustainable peace for the enhancement
of the State. [iv]
No nation can progress significantly without the availability
of sound information networks such as the media, libraries
and information services, educational institutions at
all levels, and vibrant and relevant professional bodies.
The unique and inestimable role of these information
agents for learning and information dissemination for
the achievement of lasting peace should not be ignored
in any society. Rather, they should be seen as crucial
for effectively supporting research, advocacy, and awareness
raising and as a means of attracting appropriate support
from the international community. In particular, this
will no doubt accelerate the speedier implementation
of the provision of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(TRC) as essential requirement for building peace and
reconciliation and post–war reconstruction as provided
for in the 1999 Lome Accord in Sierra Leone.
"If the country's hard–won democracy
is to be nurtured . . . librarians should collaboratively
and assiduously work for lasting peace."
A state of peace involves the practice of democratic
norms and values, justice, universal economic and social
well– being. Sierra Leone is going through a period
of transition with the implementation of innovative peace
building and peace education activities. The rationale
behind these is that since wars begin in the minds of
men, it is in their minds that the defence of peace must
be constructed. Sierra Leoneans, therefore, must not
only participate, but should also be proactive to enable
the government and policy makers to adopt robust policies
and strategies to finally attain a lasting peace. In
this regard librarians and their respective institutions
have a role to play in the dissemination of information.
If the country's hard–won democracy is to be nurtured,
if its socio–economic, educational and cultural
sectors are to be developed, and if indeed Sierra Leoneans
are to prevent another such deadly and meaningless conflict,
librarians should collaboratively and assiduously work
for lasting peace. They should pool their collective
strengths, share the national burdens and labour symbiotically
for progress.
Library Scene in the Country
Libraries are derivative agencies. They rise from particular
needs within a society and their types and functions
reflect the diversity within that society. In Sierra
Leone, however, libraries form an important part of the
country's information services. Their general aim is
to collect and store whatever information that is likely
required and to provide access to information as speedily
as necessary and to arrange its supply in the most useful
manner. The principal types are public, special, academic
and school libraries.
The public library (The Sierra Leone Library Board),
which also doubles as the country's national library,
was established in 1959. Its functions as outlined in
the 1958 Government White Paper on education development
are as follows:
- To support and re–enforce programmes
of adult and fundamental education.
- To provide effective service for children and
young people including requisite services for
schools.
- To provide much–needed information and
reference services.
- To promote and stimulate reading for pleasure
and recreation.
- To provide, where needed, adequate services
for special groups, that is, women, language groups,
the disadvantaged, etc.
In addition to the Lending, Reference, Cataloguing
and Children's Departments at the headquarters library
in Freetown, the library also runs a primary school service
concerned mainly with the provision of books in areas
where there are no libraries. There is a branch library
in the capital city, Freetown, and regional libraries
in the district headquarters towns although most of these
have ceased operation due to the war.
"Experience has shown that
a country's educational system could be as strong and
as weak as the library resources that support that system."
Also, there is a wide variety of special libraries
concentrating on limited subjects. Their organization
falls into three major categories:
- Special libraries, which are
associated with professional and learned societies,
government departments and research centres. Some
of these contain not less than a hundred and fifty
textbooks plus a handful of periodicals as at
the Sierra Leone Parliament and the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
libraries. At the extreme are those like at the
Bank of Sierra Leone which have the best collection
in their specialties
- Documentation centres such as
the National Agricultural Documentation Centre
(NADOC) and the Development Documentation Centre
(DDC) at the Ministry of Economic Development
and Planning which process the literature in their
respective fields
- Information centres, which are
principally associated with government departments
and research and industrial establishments which
provide specific information like Shell (Oil Refinery)
library and the Gender and Research Documentation
Centre (GRADOC). Access to most of these institutions
is sometimes restricted.
Academic libraries are those libraries
of the university and teacher training colleges which
have the predominant function of servicing the teaching
and research activities of their respective institutions.
The size of these libraries, especially university
libraries, exceeds over seventy–five thousand
volumes excluding periodical publications. Their organization,
subject coverage, acquisition policies and services
reflect the responsibilities of their parent institutions.
Facilities are limited to bona fide clientele, that
is, faculty, students, researchers, scholars, and
the administration while lending facilities to individual
members of the public is exceptional.
School libraries give the children
their first exposure to information resources and
mould their information behaviour for the future.
Their services are limited to a few textbook and magazine
collections. In addition to pupils, they serve teachers
and provide service to parents and the public as well.
Librarianship is a professional activity concerned
with information—its acquisition, storage, organization
or use and its supply to the inquirer. In Sierra Leone,
however, the physical formats of the contents of libraries
are mostly books. While books and journals represent
the accumulated record of mankind's knowledge and
information, librarians believe that change is the
key–word in society. Supporting post–war
reconstruction requires an environment rich in learning
stimuli. Experience has shown that a country's educational
system could be as strong and as weak as the library
resources that support that system. The progress of
education is dependent on the progress of the country's
economy. This in turn depends on agriculture, technical,
medical, commercial, and industrial change. Similarly,
if a more sophisticated culture should emerge institutions
such as libraries have a vital role to play. This
was the rationale behind the Sierra Leone Association
of Archivists, Librarians, and Information Scientists'
(SLAALIS) hosting of their fourth annual conference
on the theme "Information for peace building
in the 21st century," on 21st–23rd March
2001. At the close of the conference it was resolved
amongst other things that:
- SLAALIS should strengthen its advocacy and
lobbying strategies with government, the Parliamentary
Committee on Education, Civil Society Movement,
the National Commission for Democracy and Human
Rights (NCDHR), Disarmament, Demobilization and
Reintegration (DDR) and other organizations dealing
with peace building in implementing its programmes
and activities.
- SLAALIS should provide a forum/base for activities
relating to peace building, peace education and
conflict resolution in the country.
- SLAALIS should work in collaboration with relevant
organizations like Government, NCDHR, DDR, Civil
Society Movement, Freetown City Council (FCC),
and international organizations on networking,
partnership and linkages in peace building.
- SLAALIS should organize talks, discussions
and public lectures for schools and colleges and
the community on peace building. [v]
Librarians and Post–War Reconstruction
The refrains in the country today in conference,
workshop and seminar halls and on radio and television
discussion programmes are exclusively democracy, good
governance, human rights and peace building. On these
depends the attainment of sustainable peace for the
survival of the nation. Similarly, a noticeable trend
in the activities of librarians to date is the growing
interest in the role their institutions should play
in post–war reconstruction. This switch in professional
direction is not so much a change in direction as
a change in emphasis following on a reappraisal of
traditional library goals and practices. But how much
dedication have librarians to successfully transmit
the required message for post–war reconstruction?
Very little. True, indeed, that information is power
and power belongs to the people; that information
leads to understanding and this in turn generates
sound judgment and decision–making; the benefit of
this is productive action. Precisely these ingredients
are missing in librarians' efforts in post–war
reconstruction. Apart from the unavailability of adequate
funds, librarians have not been able to identify the
issues at stake, their target groups and the necessary
channels to get on to their targets.
Sierra Leone is a poor country with a high level
of illiteracy and limited high–tech communication
facilities almost entirely confined to the capital
city. Librarians, therefore, should start to identify
and utilize the basics of information dissemination
channels and agents the citizens are familiar with,
such as religious occasions and gatherings where pastors,
imams and other religious leaders are powerful information
agents. Also trade fairs, periodic markets, sports,
secret societies, court sessions and trade unions
to cite a few, are indispensable to information dissemination.
Besides, the very concept of service in post–war
reconstruction is in itself testimony to many divergent
interpretations of the nature of library service.
To date discrete groups of readers, such as ex–combatants,
war amputees, women, children and young people, the
traumatized, and the old, are emerging as targets
for specially oriented library service. This brings
librarians to adhere to the concept of outreach. In
reaching out to these clientele groups, librarians
will be operating in an area of activity already occupied
by other public service departments, like Health,
Education, Agriculture, Labour and Social Welfare,
where efforts are being made commensurate with community
demands. The old passive role of libraries as minority
service will start to diminish. In its place, libraries
would be viewed as part of a group of several institutions
working within society whose overall aim is the improvement
of social conditions and the development of human
resources in post–war reconstruction. Librarians,
therefore, should begin to hold talks, organize seminars,
conferences and meetings to sensitize themselves about
these new and challenging issues in order to gain
a new direction if their services in post–war
reconstruction are to be worthwhile.
Information has become such a vital raw material
in the country today that the increasing expense of
obtaining and exploiting it should stimulate librarians
in post–war reconstruction. As professionals
it is incumbent upon them to not only support and
promote the rebuilding process; it is their responsibility,
as purveyors of information, to ensure that they facilitate
that process through provision of resources at their
disposal to policy makers and citizens alike. They
should regard themselves of being in a position where
they can make an impact, but, at the same time, the
onus of the level of impact is not solely theirs.
Users should recognize their worth within their midst,
especially since they are entrusted with the task
of collecting, storing and disseminating such resources
they may have in their charge.
Libraries are service institutions and librarians
the world over are emphatic in making their materials
available to the public. Librarians in Sierra Leone
should realize that printed formats, which largely
dominate their institutions, are not the only means
of storing and disseminating information. Consequently
they should have a choice to house and make available
new media technologies, such as computers, CD–ROMs,
facsimile, telephone, reprographic facilities and
Internet services. Besides, they should integrate
their institutions in large networks with information
centres within and outside the country, using computers
and tele–links for information processing and
transmission for advanced information systems. In
addition to their traditional services, they should
offer customized services of relevant literature,
provide bibliographic services, offer Selective Dissemination
of Information and Current Awareness Services culling
relevant material from current literature for the
attention of their users, with minimal fees charged
for their work.
It is the place of librarians to provide the public
with the full range of services, book and non–book
materials alike. Equally certain is their duty to
add their expertise to the struggle against poverty,
bad governance, democracy, inequality, crime, discrimination
and illiteracy, especially as the UNDP Human Index
has ranked the country as the least developed in the
world for 2002. To this end librarians should bring
their skills and training and begin to discover where
they will not have effect. In other words, they must
seek recognition by the public if their libraries
are properly placed in the overall schemes of community
service. They should, therefore, go out to the country
and seek out the social problems of the day; they
should identify those suffering from these problems
and endeavour to bring them into contact with total
community resources through the resources of their
libraries.
"... the UNDP Human Index
has ranked the country as the least developed in the
world for 2002."
Librarians, especially those in the public library,
should broaden their concepts of library service and
build up relationships within their community. These
should be built with existing groups like Non–Governmental
Organizations, both local and international, community
development workers, social workers, teachers, youth
workers, medical teams, child guidance workers, trade
unionists, Peace and Reconciliation Commission officials,
Civil Society Movement and community lawyers. Librarians
should encourage these groups by making their rooms
and services available for seminars, conferences,
workshops and community development meetings.
There is every justification for librarians to get
involved in eradicating illiteracy in the country
by providing space, materials and guidance in developing
the reading skills of adult learners. It is a truism
that the only significant activity of librarians,
especially those in the public library, is book lending.
As this view is becoming obsolete, provision should
be made in the form of non–book materials like
cassettes, films, tape and video recordings, reading
kits and pamphlets. Not only should librarians strive
to maintain a high degree of responsiveness to clientele
seeking help but they should liaise with development
committees, adult education committees and animators
for voluntary service. These public–spirited
people should be encouraged to use libraries as a
means of introducing their profession, explaining
what they hope to achieve and what they can meaningfully
contribute to overall community education and development.
Librarians need to work with community agencies
and professional persons to develop programmes that
will promote good health principles. It helps to have
librarians assist medical professionals in an analysis
of ongoing programmes to see exactly the repercussions
of such issues as drug abuse, child abuse, teenage
pregnancy, maternity and HIV/AIDS. To be effective,
librarians should develop an awareness and understanding
of the range of health–related problems. Where
possible, they should function as members of community
health teams and should use their institutions as
publicity centres for health programmes by displaying
posters, advertisements, community radio programmes
and media publications on health related issues in
their libraries.
Sierra Leoneans are faced with broad issues like
environmental pollution, democracy and good governance,
peace and reconciliation, trauma healing and counseling,
awareness raising, and agricultural development in
post–war reconstruction. Librarians, therefore,
should modify their provisions and services towards
this goal. Libraries should not only be seen as places
to study for examinations and leisure purposes, but
also as information centres for key national issues
as outlined above. These institutions, in addition
to the provision of relevant materials, should also
promote the aforementioned programmes by creating
special collections, such as newspapers, flyers, and
brochures, posters and radio/television interview
documentaries. If possible, exhibitions and displays
on these activities should be organized while personnel
involved in these programmes should be allowed to
hold talks, seminars, conferences, workshops, and
meetings in the library. The provision of mobile library
units could be essential; the public library can play
a crucial role in this direction.
Librarians should also pay attention to the information
needs of women, most of whom are less educated and
have fewer employment opportunities and suffered the
brunt of the civil war heavily. Currently, women in
the country are advocating for their civic rights
and the role they can play in post–war reconstruction.
Hence, there is the formation of such groups as "50–50" which
advocates for equal rights with men; they are also
deeply involved in civil society movement activities
and the campaign for good governance, the rights of
the girl child and against female circumcision. Librarians
can make their institutions access points for this
vulnerable group by providing relevant and timely
information as essential support for coping with life
crises and the changing concerns of everyday life.
Such information could come from books, magazines,
guides, directories, newspapers, special reports,
educational group programmes and audiovisual materials.
Many women could be encouraged to use libraries as
sources of information and for individual and group
leisure. Librarians should provide well–designed
programmes for specific information so as to bring
women together with their peers to discuss topics
of common concern like health–related issues,
gardening, cooking and their civic rights.
However, the attainment of these programmes is centred
on the availability of adequate funds and the determination
and devotion of librarians to effectuate them. Librarians
and their institutions do not function in isolation;
they depend on their parent organizations and other
funding agencies for financial support. Incidentally,
the country is going through drastic financial constraints
and under such circumstances libraries are not a priority.
But with the limited funds availed to them, librarians
should find ways of raising income like charging for
services rendered, sales, sponsorship, support from
friends of the library groups, and soliciting external
financial support. In addition, they should be research
oriented to be able to identify those services that
society needs and can provide. Together, they should
be able to market their provisions and services through
the creation of public relations offices. Any service
designed to reach out to people in post–war
reconstruction should have high visibility, both inside
and outside the library and those in charge of such
services should use available avenues to promote their
services.
Conclusion
It is apparent that the culture of librarianship
in the country tends to be responsible only to itself.
That is to say, the structure of its work, its commitment
and loyalties are defined institutionally and professionally
rather than in relationship to the community which
is the focus of its work. It is a truism that the
country's libraries are what they are because society
has perceived them as negligible. But, aspirations
to redirect librarianship from what it is can be a
powerful lever for change, especially in post–war
reconstruction. In order for librarians to attain
their goals in this era they should provide quality
service tailored to the immediate needs of their respective
communities and sensitize people to the availability
of such services. To this end, they should cooperate
with government and other community development agencies
to acquire legislation and financial support so that
relevant and needed services for nation building could
be provided. Only through this can librarians contribute
meaningfully to post–war reconstruction.
End Notes
[i] Butscher, Mike. "Things
fall apart." West African Magazine 3888
(March 23–29, 1992): 494–498.
[ii] Fofanah, Lansana. "A
ding-dong fight." African Event, 9–4(1993):
11.
[iii] United Nations Human Development
Programme. Human Development Report 2003. Human
Development Indicators 2003: Sierra Leone. Online
at http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2003/indicator/cty_f_SLE.html.
[iv] Wright, Professor E. H. Opening
statement on the fourth annual SLAALIS conference,
21st–23rd March, 2001. British Council, Freetown
(unpublished).
[v] SLAALIS. Resolutions of the
fourth annual SLAALIS conference, 21st–23rd
March, 2001. British Council, Freetown (unpublished).
About
the Author
John Abdul Kargbo is at the
Institute of Library, Archives, and Information
Studies at the University of Sierra Leone.
Email: johnabdulkargbo [at] yahoo [dot] com
© 2002 John Abdul Kargbo
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