Russian Federation transition

LIWOLET Newsletter From: New Liberation News Service /* Written 5:52 pm  May 27, 1993 by idslibrary@gn.apc.org in igc:link.library */ /* -- "LIWOLET Newsletter" -- */

LIWOLET NEWSLETTER - South Africa Vol 4(1) January - March 1993

TRANSLIS

TransLis is the acronym for "Transforming our Library and Information Services". In October 1992 representatives of seven organisations were asked to consider a proposal to bring TransLis into existence. But TransLis does not originate in some immaculate conception. TransLis has its origins in the National Education Policy Investigation (NEPI) Library and Information Services Research Group. During 1992 this group conducted research into the policy options for library and information services (LIS) in a new South Africa. The research was published and NEPI then wound up its affairs.

With the closure of NEPI some of the researchers were not content to leave the policy options for the restructuring of South Africa's libraries in the hands of future politicians and decision makers. They grasped the opportunity to discuss the funding of an initiative such as TransLis with the president of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) when he visited South Africa. Then, they quickly drafted a proposal for consideration at the final NEPI meeting in october, 1992.

The African Librarians' Association of South Africa (ALASA), Inter Resource Centre Forum, Library and Information Workers' organisation (LIWO), Natal Resource Centre Forum, Read Education Trust, South African Institute for Library and Information Science (SAILIS), and the Transvaal Resource Centre Network have all been invited to participate in TransLis. Other organisations may decide to participate later. At a regional level, meetings are now being convened across South Africa to give library and information workers the opportunity to consider the proposal, to decide what needs to still be researched and done in each region.

Several aims have been identified for TransLis, all to be conducted on the basis of the principles of unity, democracy, non)racism and redressing the past imbalances. TransLis is not a continuation of NEPI. TransLis has its own aims which can be summarised as follows:  popularising research already conducted; initiating and coordinating further research;  formulating policy options and lobbying for change;  formulating regional library and information services strategies and facilitating regional networking.  TransLis intends to be fairly exhaustive in collecting LIS)related information about all regions in South Africa.

TransLis would also like to address itself to affirmative action and enable many more library and information workers to be involved and participate in determining the direction of research, not just in the major metropolitan centres, but in every corner of South Africa. The strength of TransLis will be the inclusive approach and cooperation between organisations which traditionally have had little contact with each other and the strong regional base of participation and decision)making.

There are still some issues which require clarity. The structure and relationships for accountability and coordination will be discussed at a national meeting in March. Funds must also be raised for each region to undertake its research and embark on activities relating to formulating policy and lobbying for change. Nevertheless, it is hoped that the possibility to cooperate, participate, contribute and have direct access to information, research and decision)making within TransLis, will empower South African librarians and information workers in an exciting way so that their energies, resourcefulness and creativity will truly make a difference in transforming our society.

by Jenni Karlsson

MAYIBUYE CENTRE FOR HISTORY AND CULTURE

Decades of vital history omitted from official records are being restored in an ambitious project in the University of the Western Cape's newly established Mayibuye Centre for History and Culture. The centre, better known as the 'struggle museum' is attempting to bring back history officially denied for decades.

The Centre is acquiring the entire photographic, film, video and publications collection of the London based International Defence and Aid Fund (IDAF). Leon Levson's vast collection of photographs depicting life in South Africa in the 1940's has provided the content of one of the centres' exhibitions and forms part of the IDAF collection, so do those of Eli Weinberg, a listed communist who spent much of his life under house arrest or in prison but who recorded key events in the life of the African National Congress before going into exile in 1976. The IDAF collection contains some 100 000 films and videos and numerous books. The centre's collection has been computer catalogued for quick and easy retrieval.

Daily, and assortment of other material from a wide variety of sources arrives at the Centre containing items such as the minutes of the Robben Island Recreation Committee and a telegram from Mao tse Tung sent to Bill Andrews, (acknowledged as grand old man of the SA Communist Party) wishing him well on the occasion of a birthday. Ahmed Kathrada's 8000 pages recording every letter he wrote and received during 25 years in jail and the archives of the SA Non)Racial Olympic Committee are also there.

The centre's task is enormous and its immediate priority is to collate and document. The centre hopes to launch a history series and with copyright to about 20 titles hopes to market reprints of some of these titles. "The most important thing about this archive, beyond the political importance, is to recover the history of the ordinary person. Until a year or so ago, people couldn't see or read any of this. A blank of 30 years needs to be filled." (Dr Andre Odendaal, Centre Coordinator). To this end the Centre will be engaging in a variety of projects involving communities, institutions and organizations. It will also approach government to arrange the retrieval of material confiscated by the security police or used in evidence in trials.

(Taken from: Weekly Mail Feb 7 to 13, 1992). -

CHANTELLE WYLEY IN RUSSIA OCTOBER 1992 (Past Chairperson of Liwo(Natal) recently visited Russia)

It is impossible to convey a sense of Moscow and St. Petersburg in a few lines: the numbers of people, the vastness, the greyness, the bitter cold, snow, and what the society and surroundings mean to anyone interested in history and politics, is quite overwhelming... My overriding impression is that of a huge, powerful and regimented empire, disintegrating before one's very eyes. This is almost tangible, and is accompanied by uncertainty as to what will emerge, what rules will govern society, where the next meal will come from, how much it will cost, etc. No new rules have as yet replaced the old, many of which have fallen away. Into the void presented by this situation, have crept the very worst features of American consumerism... Malboro and Camel cigarettes, Pizza Hut, and a never ending fascination with dollars! Inflation is rampant and the ruble)dollar rate continues to rise. Russian salaries remain static and unemployment increases.  The Red Army can no longer be sustained, people are deserting, and have no place to go/work.  Academics are paid the equivalent of about $20 per month.  Food prices are rising rapidly and with supply lines to sources of agricultural products (in the Ukraine for example) increasingly tenuous, supplies are not guaranteed either; shortages push up prices still more.

As the Soviet empire crashes, politics becomes very complicated. Russians are extremely well informed. A very literate society, everyone reads newspapers, and every political faction publishes newspapers and broadsheets. Protests in the street invoke comment and debate which result in heated interchanges. The interaction between Communists picketing outside the Lenin Museum (Yeltsin is trying to close the Museum) and the passersby was very interesting. Yeltsin is universally disliked, and Gorbachev blamed for starting the rot ) although many thank him for the degree of political freedom, the freedom to talk to foreigners, which did not prevail before.

Many people we spoke to hankered after the old days when there was discipline and food, jobs and order, with everyone knowing their place in society, and how far they could go to bend rules. Now there are no rules and those used to regimented lives are at the mercy of those who are redefining the rules according to a warped vision of Western capitalist success! Old ladies in street protests praise Stalin; fresh flowers still adorn monuments to Lenin and the graves of the giants of Communist rule. The (male) youth however are revelling in the delights of Western rock music, long hair and operating in the black market to gain access to dollars. Unheard of in the old days, pornographic literature is common at the street newspaper/book stalls. Many return/turn to religion, and evidence of the Russian Orthodox Church is everywhere. As an alternative, American evangelists are in the streets and Billy Graham in the Lenin Stadium!

Travelling about on the street and in the metro, one is presented with ample evidence to back up Soviet claims about 100% literacy, Everyone reads, in all places and at all times. In the metro trains, about 60% of people in the carriage will read anything from newspapers to thick hardback tomes. There are more bookstalls in the streets than food stalls, and book shops are crowded ) you have to fight to get to the counters. There are libraries in every district; Moscow with about 13 million people has over 4500 libraries! However, State subsidies to the publishing industry have been halted, and it seems likely that the high standard of publishing classics and works in other languages will soon be a thing of the past.  Classics of Soviet politics, theory and literature in English are rare now, but bestsellers are in in a big way ) James Handley Chase, Danielle Steele. There are no copyright rules in Russia (this means havoc when it comes to software, which is dirt cheap, but probably all pirated), although there are plans to introduce legislation. Books are ridiculously cheap, I bought Russian/English dictionaries for 300 rubles ($1), a big colour picture book on Moscow cost 45000 rubles ($15).

Foreigners are in the strange situation of being virtually illiterate in Russia, and I would recommend that anyone visiting learn how to read the Russian script at least. A holiday there demands more than the usual amount of preparation but is utterly fascinating and enormously rewarding!

(Newsletter UND Libraries, No. 13, 1992)� 21 million library project for under)privileged

The province is to build 36 new libraries in under)developed black communities at a cost of R21 million.

This development, which will take four years, has been given priority status by the Natal executive committee (Exco), MEC Ismail Omar said yesterday.

The project has been given the go)ahead at the expense of the Durban City Council's proposed R90 million library complex. Durban had approached Exco for a subsidy of R10 million towards the building costs of the new complex. Omar said the decision not to approve a subsidy of R10 million to Durban was taken largely to redress the shortage of library facilities in black communities.

"The primary role of the province is to provide as many libraries as possible with the limited resources available to it, in order to redress historical imbalances. "Our mission is to 'librarise' Natal for all its inhabitants as soon as possible."

Of the 36 new libraries, three will be built in Edendale at a cost of R5 million; one in Bruntville at a cost of R208 000 and one in Sobantu at a cost of R568 000. Omar said the first Edendale library will be built by the end of this financial year.

Omar said the libraries can be built on a self)help basis which will drastically reduce costs and generate jobs in the community. The province will not compromise on standards, he said, but self)help schemes are a more cost)effective use of the money.

Neels Fourie, head of the provincial library services, said books for the libraries will be chosen carefully to achieve a balance between educational and recreational books.

"We have a very advanced policy in terms of selecting books for underdeveloped areas, and our three black librarians have the final say in book selection," Fourie said.

(By Yvonne Grimbeek in Natal Witness Tuesday 9th Feb. 1993.)�

LIWO ENTERS 1993 WITH NEW STRUCTURE

LIWO was formed in Natal July 1990 representatives from the Transvaal and the Cape were present, but difficulties regarding the logistics of consulting widely led to LIWO formally launching itself in Natal only, and concentrating its activities in the Natal area.

Our constitution provides for the formation of branches by ten or more members in one geographic area, and late 1990 saw the launch of a branch in Pietermaritzburg. In September 1991, after a thorough consultative process, a Western cape LIWO was established with its own constitution based on the original drawn up in Natal. A meeting in Durban later 1991 elected a committee to work on a branch in Durban. Throughout 1992, these various structures of LIWO communicated informally, and co)operated on various projects. It became evident however that in many cases outside organisations and forums expected a united position from LIWO, on issues relating to educational and cultural policy for example. It became necessary to formalise and streamline the relationship between the two, and also to set up structures to facilitate the launch of other branches.  At the same tine, the Natal Committee of LIWO proposed that their branch devolve into two branches in Durban and Pietermaritzburg in order to enable the organisation's personpower to work more at grassroots level.  This had worked well in Pietermaritzburg for example, with the Sobantu community library project.

Discussion around these issues led to the presentation of a proposal to the AGM's of LIWO in Natal and the Cape. This suggested that the organisation's activities should be concentrated at local level, but that an administrative coordinating mechanism should be set up to facilitate co)operation and communication between branches. Portfolios were defined: national co)ordinator  to handle public relations and internal matters, International co*ordinator to handle correspondence and communication with overseas groups, treasurer to deal with common finances, and secretary to deal with correspondence and membership matters common to all, and Liwolet editor. These positions were not intended to be representative, filled by elected officials: they were designed in terms of the administrative work of the organisation, and the most efficient and effective way of getting things done. It was envisaged that consultation will take place at branch level in response to requests for a position (which may be communicated to the central officials), and this will then be fed back to the relevant central official for co)ordination of the response. Meetings will be kept to a minimum and communication will take place via fax and phone.  This proposal was accepted, and a combined meeting of the Natal and Cape executive committees, held during the LIWO Conference in Cape Town in September 1992, appointed people who were willing and able to handle these positions.  They are:

Philip van Zijl Christopher Merrett Bill Bennett Cathy Stadler FILM RESOURCE UNIT (FRU)

The main aim of the FRU is to provide film and video resources for the purposes of education and training and cultural and socio)economic transformation.

The mission of the FRU is to:

Build and maintain an archive of South African and African film and video.

Foster the development of audiences for independently produced film.

Train audiences in visual literacy and appreciation of cinema and television.

Promote the use of film and video as an educational and recreational medium.

Increase access of film resources to community groups.

FRU has over 700 titles in its PWV Resource Centre. Topics covered by FRU include South African socio)economic development issues, health, AIDS, land and shelter, culture, media, labour etc. Members of FRU are entitled to loan videos, use the wide selection of film reference books; use viewing facilities; loan AV equipment and receive videos by post. For more information contact: Video Resource Centre Film Resource Unit P.O. Box 11065 Johannesburg 2000 Tel and Fax : (011) 29 6967. There is a membership fee. LITERACY MATTERS IN MARITZBURG. [Submitted by: unknown (gxlx26@vms1.glasgow.ac.uk)               Mon, 30 Aug 93 11:59 GMT]