LIASA In Touch , Vol 8, Issue 1 March 2006
Monsieur Mamdou Konoba Keita is the National Librarian of Mali. He is also the president of the Association Malienne des Bibliothécaires, Archivistes et Documentalistes, abbreviated to AMBAD; the Malian Association of Librarians, archivists and documentalists.The National Library is housed in one wing, and the National Archives in the other wing of a very large building in Mali’s capital Bamako. It is in the National Library wing that AMBAD has its offices. Monsieur Keita was gracious enough to afford me a meeting on short notice. I took the opportunity to remind him of WLIC in 2007 in Durban. However, with Mali being the 4th poorest country in Africa, the Malian librarians will only be able to participate with sponsorship.
Mali does not have a public library system. The task of this service has become that of the National library. They have just been connected to the Internet for the staff. Public access to the Internet in the National Library is still a challenge. The children’s section of the library is not busy as the children are still in school. In the young adult and learning centre I find mostly University students.
Mali having been a French colony, the two countries’ National Libraries have some ties with one another; as evidenced by the 700 titles donated from the National Library of France in 2006 as part of a collection building project.
Despite the lack of a library system, AMBAD is 4000 members strong. Although AMBAD has the support of Mali’s Department of Culture, it does not include any financial support. Like LIASA, AMBAD, relies on membership fees. Training too is high on the list of priorities for AMBAD.
According to Monsieur Keita, Mali and South Africa have had good relations since before 1994, and was the first to visit South Africa after liberation. He hopes for a strong relationship between LIASA and AMBAD.
Fatima Darries, January 2007.
