EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) manager, Ramune Petuchovaite, and two EIFL-PLIP grantee libraries are to present papers at the second African Public Libraries Summit in Swaziland.

The theme of the summit, which is organized by the African Library and Information Association and Institutions (AfLIA), is ‘21st Century Public Libraries – innovation develops communities’.

Petuchovaite’s presentation focuses on the importance of community needs assessment in new service development. Representing the two EIFL-PLIP grantee libraries are -

• Mary Kinyanjui, public librarian at Kenya National Library Services (KNLS), who managed an EIFL-funded public library project that used tablet computers to support education of children living in Kibera, a giant slum on the outskirts of Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, and
• Alikem Tamakloe, head of Volta Regional Library, Ghana, which initiated a successful EIFL-funded mobile library computer training programme for children attending poorly-resourced schools in the town of Ho in Volta Region.

The 2nd African Public Libraries Summit is a post- conference event, following (scecsal.eu.pn) SCECSAL 2016 (the 22nd Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa Library and Information Associations), which takes place from 25 - 29 April, also in eZulwini, Swaziland.