After our visit to the Institute for Professional Status and to the
OCLF building site at
Legon, Foster and I headed to the University of Ghana to visit the main library. The University of Ghana has an enrollment of over 20,000 students. Serving these students are the main library (
Balme Library), more than 25 department libraries, and small libraries in each residence hall. Overall, more than 120 library staff are employed at the University of which seventeen are librarians with diploma.
The library currently holds about 600,000 volumes.
On arrival we are introduced to
Shaban, the Head of Circulation. I must say that I am honored to receive such attention from the administration and staff at all the libraries that I have visited, both here in Ghana and in Bolivia. What I think is going to be a quiet, self-guided visit becomes an in-depth discussion about the library, as well as thorough and informative tours.
Right away I noticed the impressive colonial-style design of the
Balme Library- a lot of dark brown wood rails, trim, and windows, tile floors, and high ceilings. The periodical reading room and the
Africana Library are really impressive spaces.
Books are acquired at the
Balme Library in a number of ways. Funds are given to the Library by the government to purchase books. The acquisitions librarian contacts the teaching faculty and gathers requests for books. Many of these books are purchased through the Book Trust, an
NGO in Accra that sells used books for cheap. Other books are available for purchase in the University's bookstore or online. Donations are also added to the collection and come from Ghanaian visiting lecturers, Ghanaians from abroad, and others. When the British Council in Ghana closed down, they gave their library to U of G. Recently a Canadian passed away and donated his library of 5,000 books.
Shaban told me that they accepted all the books and added all of them to the collection. He understands the politics of book donations-- you do not want to damage relations with potential donors by discarding items, so all items get added.
The
Balme Library is a fully automated library with their online catalog via
Millenium (just like at Appalachian State University). They have an impressive list of databases including Oxford Reference Online,
ScienceDirect, and
JSTOR.
Shaban explains that the finances for purchase of these materials comes through an university from Holland. Way to go Holland!!!
The
mainstacks of the library holds mostly older books but the specialized libraries have impressive current and useful publications, specifically the United Nations Library and the Development Information Center (
DIC). The
Balme Library serves as a repository for UN agency publications including UNESCO, UNICEF, and UN General. Most of these items are for in-house use only and the most popular are kept in a locked cabinet. The Development Information Center is a room funded by the World Bank. It serves as an air-condition haven and repository. Other special collections include the Braille Library, the Arabic Library, the
Africana Library, and the Student's Reference Library.
I was very disappointed when the librarian who works in the special collections said he was too busy to display some of the rare colonial era rare tiems. I had read they were open all day to the public. When I asked
Shaban about this, he explained that they are open all day to the public, just not 'now'.
