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Role of Library Associations in Supporting the Library Sector during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa

Abstract As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the library sector, library associations are playing an important role in the promotion of librarianship as a profession vital to informed and knowledgeable society. The purpose of this study was to examine the role library associations played to improve access to information during the pandemic in Africa. The objectives of the study were to: find out the communication channels used by library associations to communicate with their members during the COVID-19 pandemic; challenges faced by the associations in communicating to its members during the lockdown; collaborations or partnerships the library associations developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep its members abreast of the new developments and recommend strategies to mitigate similar disasters in future. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a semi-structured online questionnaire, involving both closed and open-ended questions. Most of the responses were from library associations in Central Africa (33.3%) and majority of the respondents were females (67%). The highest level of education attained by most of the library association’s President was a master’s degree (67%). Majority of the library associations have subscribed to IFLA and AfLIA. The major challenges faced by respondents’ library association were poor internet connection during the COVID-19 lockdown, technophobia and insufficient funds for data subscription. The pandemic had an effect on the strategic plan of the national library associations because their planned activities such as conducting national library conference were disrupted. This study therefore recommended the development of risk and disaster preparedness manuals and encouragement of more use of online information resources.