FROM LIBRARIES TO COMMUNITY INFORMATION RESOURCE CENTRES (CIRCS)? RATIONALE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO COMMUNITIES IN TANZANIA

Abstract

The failure of the public library model to cater for the increasing information needs of the Tanzanian communities necessitates an exploration for the alternative information delivery system/model that is likely to take on board even those of a larger rural-based Tanzanian community. This paper is therefore a critical examination of how the public library model in Tanzania has been operationalizing and its effectiveness in satisfying the information needs of the Tanzanian community. The basic argument is that given the ‘alien' nature of library model, it is still not suitable to Tanzania's social and economic environment basing on the fact that because the majority of Tanzanian community is rural-based, the ‘library model' was equally required to reorient its information services to where the majority of people live. While examining these issues, an alternative model capable of reorienting its information services to the majority of Tanzanians is also proposed.


University of Dar es Salaam Library Journal: 2003 4(1&2): 18-32