In 1998, the Books Working Group continued to be heavily involved in research. It believes that research and the dissemination of publications on key issues concerning book development in Africa will help improve book policies.
Research activities
A survey on book access systems was undertaken, drawing on case studies in Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania. The survey is currently being expanded and will lead to a publication during 1999 entitled Getting Books to School Pupils in Africa.
The first phase of the study on the fiscal, legal and administrative problems of the Intra-African book trade has been completed. The Books group worked in close collaboration with its African partner organization, the African Publishers' Network (APNET). A consultant from Kenya (Ruth Makotsi) led a team of researchers selected by the National Publishers' Associations in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In addition to this focus on the book trade in the Southern Africa region, comparative case study material has been drawn from East and West Africa, with the help of the National Publishers' Associations in Nigeria and Kenya. This study will be extended in 1999 to encompass Pan-African and regional economic communities, with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland.
The third major piece of research undertaken during 1998 is an examination of cost sharing and cost recovery practices in the provision of textbooks and training materials. The research draws on case study material from Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Lesotho, Malawi and Mozambique. It is currently being edited for publication in English, French and Portuguese.
Publications
The Working Group's dissemination of information about the book sector through up-to-date bibliographies and surveys has lead to the second edition of the annotated Annual Bibliography on Publishing and the Book Chain. An Inventory on Supplementary Teaching & Learning Aids is also in preparation.
In its Perspectives on African Book Development series (which is distributed through the African Books Collective), the Working Group also published An Introduction to Publishing Management. The publication is available in English and French. This publication gives guidelines on specific aspects of book development. Another such publication is the manual on the Editing of Gender Sensitive Popular Reading Material, which is currently being developed subsequent to two workshops in Mali and Zambia focusing on gender issues. The workshops were organized by the National Publishers' Associations (Organisation malienne des éditeurs de livres [OMEL] and the Booksellers' and Publishers' Association of Zimbabwe [BPAZ] respectively), and were undertaken at the request of the Working Group on Female Participation (WGFP), with support from the Rockefeller Foundation and USAID.
Addressing the need for book sector statistics
The research undertaken by the Working Group has drawn attention to the weak database on the book sector in many parts of Africa. In order to facilitate a workshop on book sector statistics, the Books Working Group collaborated with the Working Group on Education Statistics (WGES). The meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Zambia in August 1998. This was a novel experience for both Working Groups. The workshop not only brought together Ministry representatives involved in education statistics, book development or book procurement; but also representatives of the National Publishers' Association. It is hoped that this initiative will lead to the development of a pilot module on book sector statistics, in line with the Working Group on Education Statistics' concern to establish databases that provide up-to-date information about the education context.
Contributing to the development of APNET
APNET representatives and National Publishers' Associations were involved in research concerning the different aspects of the book industry. Resource center staff also contributed to the updating of the Bibliography of Publishing and the Book Chain -1997, in the expectation that they will be able to take over responsibility for the Bibliography as an annual APNET publication. Furthermore, the Books Working Group collaborated with APNET during a 1998 Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF) seminar at which the preliminary results of a joint study on Barriers to the Intra-African Book Trade were discussed.
Building a cadre of African book development specialists
Progress towards the emergence of a cadre of African specialists in book development, book publishing and book selling has been made in a number of different ways. In addition to APNET, the Working Group works closely with a number of different agencies involved in supporting book development in Africa (such as Danida, DfID, DSE, Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministère des Affaires étrangères, Ministère délégué à la coopération France, Norad, Rockefeller Foundation, OAU, Sida, World Bank, USAID, UNESCO, UNICEF). In 1998, it also worked with NGOs like FAWE, Chi-Sci (Kenya), the Institut de l'Education Populaire (Mali), Sister Namibia, the Zambian Women Writers' Association, READ (South Africa), ELET (South Africa) and WOTAP (Sudan). It has given encouragement and support to the embryonic Pan-African Booksellers' Association (PABA), which was launched at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair.
The Working Group facilitated the session on policy during the Indaba which preceded ZIBF, and brought together 15 resource persons from NGOs and National Publishers' Associations in order to lead discussion on structures and strategies for promoting children's books and reading development.
Finally, the Working Group has fostered collaboration with other ADEA Working Groups (Female Participation, Education Statistics, Education Finance, Nonformal Education) in order to ensure that a more holistic approach to book policy is advocated in both Ministries of Education and Culture and in partner agencies.
Carew Treffgarne
Leader of the Working Group on Books and Learning Materials
Publications of the Books group are distributed by:
The ABC Collective,
The Jam factory,
27 Park End Street,
Oxford OX1 1HU, UK
Tel: +44(0)1865-726686 fax: +44(0)1865-793298
E-mail: abc@dial.pipex.com
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