Ethiopian National Archives and Library Agency
in Partnership with
British Council

Background Information

The Ethiopian National Archives and Library Agency (NALA) Is a government body established by proclamation No.179/1999 as a legal framework and nation-wide responsibilities. It was setup in 1944 with the name public library "Wemezekir" and first inaugurated by His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I and started functioning with books granted by the king.

Through the many changes in structure and ways of working it has experienced down the years the Agency has been delivering services to researchers, students, academics, writers, higher education students and the pubic at large by collecting, organizing and preserving archive and library collections.

British Council is the United Kingdom's international organization for cultural and educational relations and has been operating in Ethiopia for over 65 years. It is a leading provider of library and information services in Addis Ababa and its environs and since 1943 the Council has been known best for its Library which has been valued by generations of Ethiopians and institutions for its good service supported by modern technology.

Thee years ago with the aim of building on the skills and expertise of both organizations in the area of library and information services provision in Ethiopia and to make these available to an even wider number of people the organizations initiated a partnership project which they are proud and delighted to be launching today.

Partnership Vision and Objectives

Vision:-

• To improve ICT and information literacy amongst educated young Ethiopians.
• To develop entrepreneurial young people with the necessary skill and knowledge acquired through self access learning.
• To develop a culture among young people of discussion and interaction, tolerance of different ideas, views and interests.

Objective:-

• To develop the capacity of NALA, regional public libraries and their workforces so as to improve the provision of services, increase their impact and membership for the benefit fo young Ethiopians and adult learners across the country.

Partnership Achievements

The Partnership project is being implemented in two phases:-

Phase I(April 2007 - April 2009):

• Building the capacity of NALA by constructing an IT-based library and records management system.
• Training NALA staff on library automation, house keeping, customer care and relationship management.
• Transferring British Council library resources and integrating with that of NALA and forming a partnership library.

Phase II (April 2009-March 2010)

• Introduction of new and enhanced services (resources lending, discussion forums, ICT training and the like) and acquisition of relevant resources.
• Further strengthen internal capacity of NALA by training relevant staff on market/ and customers research and project design skills and acquisition of relevant information resources.
• Jointly strengthening the internal capacity of selected regional public libraries in the country through cascade workshops and generation of resources.

Major accomplishments

The following major activities have taken place through the concerted efforts of both partners in the past two years.

• Detailed project plan outlining salient actions, timelines and issues of the partnership project designed and agreed.
• BC NALA partnership board formed to lead on the implementation of the partnership project.
• A Memorandum of Understanding specifying the partners commitments and duration of their partnership and other terms and condition of agreement singed.
• Awareness creation workshop on the objectives and plan of the partnership project attended by over 115 NALA an BC staff.
• Suitable library and archives automation software (Elm) supporting Amharic scrip indentified and procured from an internationally recognized company by the BC.
• eLm Software installed for use at NALA for the Partnership Library.
• Over 50 NALA and BC staff trained on the Elm software.
• 23 NALA staff trained on customer service excellence.
• Over 40 NALA library staff undertook on the-job training and work attachment on various library service at the BC library.
• Modern equipment and facilities necessary for building an automated library at NALA indentified and procured by the BC.
• Requirements for modern automated partnership library built at NALA carried out by BC contracted consultants who undertook architectural, IT networking, sanitary and contracted firm.
• Construction of the various designs to upgrade NALA;s existing library into a modern automated library implemented by BC contracted firm.
• NALA'S Library services revised to adopt international library service standards for warded to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Council of Ministers for approval.
• International library services standards developed and ado[ted for the Partnership Library with clear targets and milestones.
• A partnership library with integrated resources ready to start serving their new and existing customers from MAY 2009.

Partnership Library Benefits

Both partners' customers and stakeholders will have the following significant benefits from using the partnership library at NALA.

• Efficient, IT-based automated library services operational at a national level.
• Access to a wider and more diversified library and information collection. (from Ethiopia and the UK)
• A greater number and range of customers able to access a range of services, including lending.
• Opportunity for NALA to cascade capacity building to regional libraries.
• Ability to generate resources from other partners and stakeholders to sustain continuous improvement of services developed.
• Self learning and development opportunities organized and made available for young people.

New and Enhanced Service

• Automated public library with quick and efficient access to integrated resources.
• Lending service for books and other information resources.
• Special resources (DVD and video) viewing.
• Fast, expanded internet service.
• Dedicated English Language training (ELT) collection.
• Diverse and large volume of library resources, including new books and other collections.
• Spacious and comfortable reading spaces.
• Capacity building and networking forums and events.

How to Become a Member

• Current members of both partner libraries will have their membership extended automatically as per their existing terms and conditions.
• Pending approval b y the Council of Ministers for the revised NALA services regulations new lending service members will be registered as per existing BC library service terms and conditions.