Giving Them What They Want and Assessing Impact: Case Studies of Public Library Services in the Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

This paper focuses on the principles proposed in the “Library and Information Services Transformation Charter”, exploring the extent to which two public/community libraries in the Western Cape Province of South Africa are already engaged in charter activities. Interviews were conducted with directors of the library services who identified libraries where examples of good practice were already in evidence. Two sites were thereafter selected as case studies out of a total of 98 libraries in the City of Cape Town Library and Information Service, and the nature of the charter-oriented services being provided there described. The paper concludes with an attempt to show how data may be collected to make a case for the impact of library services as part of an advocacy strategy and to secure recognition of the validity of claims by public and community libraries for partnership in national development efforts.