COUNTRY REPORT ON
STATE OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND THE NEED TO IMPLEMENT
GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS FOR IMPROVING SERVICE OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS

Prepared for IFLA/UNESCO Seminar NALIS- Port of Spain, Trinidad 5-7 May 2003

Presented by Dorcas Bowler
Bahamas Library Service, Ministry of Education, Nassau Bahamas May 2003

INTRODUCTION

The Bahamas is an archipelago of 700 islands, islets and cays covering 100,000 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean. Between Grand Bahama in the North, and Great Inagua in the South, there are approximately twenty three inhabited islands and cays. Tourism is the largest industry followed by banking and fishing and agriculture.

The Commonwealth of the Bahamas will commemorate its 30th year of Independence on July 10th 2003. During the period from 1973 to 2003, The Bahamas has undergone many political, economic and social changes. This in turn had a significant impact on all institutions of learning including libraries and information centres throughout the Bahamas.

This report addresses the state of public libraries in The Bahamas and issues affecting the development of library service in the country. It articulates, not only problems and barriers that impede effective service, but also some initiatives and strategies in place to ratify these problems. Implementation of strategies began mainly in the early 90s and it is envisioned that it will continue throughout the 21st century and beyond.

A Brief History of Public Libraries in The Bahamas

Libraries in the Bahamas were established since the early nineteenth century as populations increased following the arrival of the Loyalists in the 1900s.The first libraries began over 150 years ago and are still in existence today. These libraries include Nassau Public Library (1837) on New Providence; the Sir George W.K. Roberts Memorial Library (1854) on Harbour Island; the Erickson Public Library (1855) on Inagua; the Green Turtle Cay Public Library (1862) in Abaco; and Haynes Library (1897) in Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera.

Many of these libraries were merely reading rooms when they were first established. Today, they along with several other libraries, have been either renovated or built and transformed into beautiful and attractive buildings with state of the art facilities, computers, a growing collection of books and a number of audio-visual aids. Despite the progress in the area of physical infrastructure, a more nagging problem persists: the shortage of staff, services and resources. As Boultbee (1978) notes, "library service in the Bahamas suffers from deficiencies in three areas: lack of funds, lack of definite policies and lack of qualified personnel" (p.151). This in a nutshell describes the major problems we faced in the 1970's and even today.

Problems and Barriers to Effective Library Service

Eleven (11) public and community libraries exist in New Providence, the island on which Nassau, the capital city of The Bahamas is located. Twenty (20) functional libraries and information centres are located on the outer islands, or what is commonly referred to as Family Islands of The Bahamas. Most of these libraries fall under the direct jurisdiction of The Ministry of Education. Four of the eleven libraries in New Providence are operated by Boards of Directors and are subsidised by the government of The Bahamas. Most libraries on the Family islands are given a small grant annually by the government.

Development of effective library and information services continue to be affected by the following obstacles:

· lack of qualified library staff
· lack of adequate facilities and resources
· lack of funds
· lack of interests of the 'powers that be'
· Poor communication between headquarters and libraries on remote islands of The Bahamas
· geographical location of remote islands making access of resources and information difficult (See Appendix A)
· lack of sufficient training programmes for basic library skills and technology

Modern Library Development

After thirty years, our library system is beginning to show some signs of improvement in four main areas -- infrastructure, staff, service and technology. Presently, there are approximately forty public and community libraries and information centre in the country. They exist on the more developed islands as well as the rural islands of The Bahamas (See Appendix B). The majority of the public libraries is connected to the Internet and provides Internet service to users from a diverse population. Three library staff members in the country have received their Masters Degrees in Library and Information Science in Canada in the past three years. An additional nine are pursuing their Masters Degree in Library Science online with the University of Aberystwyth in Wales. The online course also includes one-week attachments on campus annually for three years. All workers in public libraries have received some training in technology and the electronic environment since 2001.

Initiatives and Strategies for Effective Service

Much of the recent development in Libraries should be credited to the insightful leadership of Ms. Nellie Brennen, Assistant Director of Education with responsibility for public libraries. She heads the Bahamas Library Service (BLS) which has been established since 1999. This section of the Ministry of Education is responsible for public libraries and library development in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. A marked improvement in the use of technology and training is seen because of the assistance received from the Organisation of American States (OAS), and CARIFORUM projects.

Role of Projects in the Development of Libraries in the Bahamas

CARIFORUM

Two staff members of the Bahamas Library service gained a basic knowledge of Eloquent Web library automation software through a five-day workshop held in Trinidad during the months of May and September 2000. Through these training, participants were given the fundamental tools for setting up an infrastructure to share information with their Caribbean counterparts and at the same time lay the groundwork for automation of their public library's cataloguing and circulation systems.

OAS Project

In 2002, an OAS project in conjunction with the Ministry of Education embarked on automating, networking and connecting Bahamian public libraries to the Internet. The project also provided computers, software, facsimile machines, reference materials, Bahamian books and books from core and general library collections to twelve (12) Family island libraries. The added resources improve users' access to up-to-date information and quality service.

Training Workshops

Beside the major initiatives mentioned above, the Bahamas Library Service, through the projects, also provided local training on fundamentals of the Internet and basic library practice for its staff as well as employed the expertise of commercial schools for basic and advanced computer courses.

A highlight of library staff training was a Book Binding workshop conducted by South Eastern Library Network (SOLINET) in August of 2002. This was sponsored by Cable Bahamas Care Foundation and the Ministry of Education. Twenty participants from school, public and special libraries gained valuable skills in book preservation that can be incorporated in their respective libraries without the use of expensive equipment.

Recommendations

• Increase opening hours of library to meet the needs of users
• Increase number of computers in public libraries for internet service and word processing functions
• Make CD-ROMS available for information and research
• Have ongoing training programmes for staff in both library and electronic environments
• Use Distance Education to assist in training of library staff
• Give library instruction to users
  
• Provide a forum to share our cultural heritage with other librarians and information professionals in the region
• Formulate standards and policies to govern library services. E.g. Internet policy (include principles of IFLA Standards)

In addition, policies such as the minimum qualifications for public librarian, reference librarian, library clerks and other library workers will also be addressed in the upcoming IFLA UNESCO seminar.

Conclusion

Although there is much more work that needs to be done in our information service, libraries have made some notable strides, particularly from the early 90s and would continue if all put forth a concerted effort to implement guidelines and standards in the public library system. In so doing we will meet the challenges of providing information in a timely and effective manner in a rapidly changing world.

Prepared and Submitted By
Dorcas Bowler
EDUCATION OFFICER (LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION)
Bahamas Library Service
Ministry Education
Nassau Bahamas
2 May 2003

References

Boulbee, P.G. "Library Service in the Bahamas" International Library Review 10, No.2 (1978).

Islands of The Bahamas http://bahamas.gov.bs. Internet Accessed 2 May, 2003.

Brennen, N. Brief on Plans for Public Libraries 2001-2002. Unpublished document, Bahamas Library Service, Ministry of Education, Nassau Bahamas.

Johnson, W. Country Report on Library Service In The Commonwealth of The Bahamas prepared for IFLA/LAC. 1987.

IFLA Standards For Public Libraries 1973/1997

APPENDIX A

http://bahamas.gov.bs

APPENDIX B

PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN THE BAHAMAS

Bahamas library Service has the task of uniting the eleven (11) public libraries in New Providence and the Family Islands into one modern, automated system, offering quality, standardized services in the entire country.