Support local industry? Book buying patterns in the University of Botswana Library (UBL)

Extract

The academic library under review controls a sizable budget per annum out of which it acquires about 20,000 volumes per year arid serves more than 10,000 users. The Collection Development Policy provides for acquisition of single copies of foreign materials and five copies of materials from Botswana and from countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It does not provide textbooks since that is taken care of by the University of Botswana Bookshop. Since its establishment/the UBL has been sourcing the bulk of its materials through overseas booksellers, and with the declining value of the local pula currency/the number of books purchased has decreased: A number of reasons contribute to this state of affairs. As Paul Brickhill observes, ‘with the notable exception of particular bookshops, bookselling and particularly the special area of library supply is weak throughout Africa’.