Information Accessibility by the Marginalized Communities in South Africa and the Role of Libraries

Abstract

This paper discusses the nature and levels of information access by the information deprived communities in South Africa and the role libraries play in supporting information access to the information poor. The marginalized communities and information access are defined, and how, why and where such communities access information is discussed. The library system in South Africa is described and its role, activities, programmes and services are examined. The paper further discusses how the libraries are resourced and managed, and the challenges and opportunities they face. An attempt is made to compare South African library model support to the information poor communities with those of other countries of the region. It is concluded that South Africa has a strong information access capacity and library services, though comparatively better than those in other African countries in terms of management, resource support and distribution, but still lacks the capacity for effective information provision to the marginalized communities largely because of their location and information content and format that is largely in favor of information rich environments.