Lthtarl A~qulstltons Pra~meandTheorv, Vol 6. pp 137-148, 1 9 8 2 0364-6408,'82, 020137-1250300/0 Printed m the [J%A All r~ght~ reserved Copyright ~' 1982 Pergamon Press lad

A C Q U I S I T I O N S F R O M A F R I C A

AFRICANA ACQUISITIONS PROBLEMS: THE VIEW FROM BOTH SIDES

E V A - M A R I A RATHGEBER

Post-Doctoral Fellow

Centre for Developing Area Studies, McGdl Umverstty

Montreal, Quebec

A B S T R A C T

Thts arttcle discusses the book pubhshmg industry m Afrtca m the early 1980s, the problems faced by North Amerwan hbrartans attemptmg to acqutre Afrtcan- pubhshed materials, and revwws the major bibhographtc reference tools. The dtfftcultte~ mvolved m producmg books m Africa are exammed at length and suggestions are made for easing the acqmsltlons problems o f North American hbraHans

The acquisi t ion of materials published in Africa is problematical and frustrating for most North American librarians. It is true that the a m o u n t of publishing which xs carried on in African countries is in many cases neghglble. It is true also that much of what is written and published abou t Africa and African subjects emanates from outside the cont inent Nonethe- less there remains a substant ial in format ion gap between African publishers and North American l ibrarians Even where this gap has been partially bridged as a result of increased direct mall advertising by some African publishers, particularly from Nigeria, it is still a lengthy and pains taking process for North American libraries to acquire African-published materials directly from Africa. Too often orders remain unfilled, letters to publishers go unanswered, requests for informat ion are repeatedly ignored. This si tuation causes much frustrat ion among l ibrarians and It IS the object of this paper to examine some of the reasons for this apparen t indifference and inefficiency on the part of many African publishers and to suggest ways in which the si tuation might be ameliorated [1 ].

137

138 EVA-MARIA RATHGEBER

T H E S C O P E O F T H E A C Q U I S I T I O N S P R O B L E M

Book p roduc t ion in many Afr ican countr ies ~s still at a neophyte stage. Cer ta inly there has been rap id expans ion and growth since the 1960s, however in 1974, books publ ished in Africa still const i tu ted only 1.9% of the total world book produc t ion [2]. In Black Africa, south of the Sahara , only Nlgerm has what could be considered a substant ia l pubhshxng indust ry . The to ta l number of books publ i shed there in 1978 was i,175 [3]. Kenya is someumes ment ioned as the Enghsh-speaklng count ry with the second most vigorous p u b h s h m g indus t ry (after Nigeria) [4]. However , accord ing to U N E S C O stat lsucs, Kenya produced only 183 titles in 1976, the latest year for which figures are avai lable [5].

Table 1 i l lustrates the general ly impover ished state of the book pubhshmg industry in most Afr ican countr ies . Included In the U N E S C O figures in Table 1 as "books" are government pubhca t ions and pamphle t s which fur ther diminishes the sxgmficance of exist ing publ ishing industries. A dis t ract ion between books and pamphle t s is made in Table 2, which presents figures on the p roduc t i on of school texts in var ious Afr ican countr ies . In this a rea of pubhshmg Nigeria is again the most prolific, not surpris ing perhaps, in view of that country ' s popu la t i on of more than 90 mil l ion and the emphasis dur ing the past decade on the provis ion of universal p r imary educat ion (UPE) Of course, much of the educa t iona l pubhshmg which is carr ied on m Afr ican countr ies is of little general interest to North Amer ican l ibraries since it consists p r imar i ly of t ex tbooks for school chi ldren The overall picture which emerges of the Afr ican b o o k publ ishing indust ry Is one of general im- pover i shment with d i sp ropor t i ona t e (a l though not necessarily inappropr ia te ) emphasis on the p roduc t ion of t ex tbooks a imed at the p r imary and secondary school markets

IABLE I BOOK PRODUCTION IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES BY NUMBER OF'I-ITLES(1976-1978)

C o u n t r y 1976 1977 1978

B e n i n - - 13

B o t s w a n a 79 71 103

C o n g o - 127

E g y p t 1,486 1,472

E t h i o p i a - - 353

G a m b , a - 113 81

G h a n a 237 135 251

I v o r y C o a s t 395 125

K e n y a 183 -

M a d a g a s c a r 228 211 219

Malaw~ - 133 -

M a u r i t a n i a 71 40 -

M a u r i t i u s 54 40 20

N i g e r 78 -

N , g e r i a - - 1,175

S e n e g a l 47 48 -

S e y c h e l l e s - 11 -

S ie r ra L e o n e - 61 -

S u d a n 158 104

T u m s , a 48 85 85

U m t e d R e p u b h c o f C a m e r o o n - - 54

U n i t e d R e p u b l i c o f T a n z a n i a 399 - -

Z a , r e - 154 109

Z a m b i a 165 - 123

Source Unesco Statlsmal Yearbool~, 1980, pp 987-88

Afrlcana Acquisitions Problems

TABLE2 PRODUCTION OF SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES (1976-1978)

139

C o u n t r y Year Books Pamphle ts Total

Egyp t 1977 414 41 455 EthJopm 1978 118 1 119 Gambm 1978 20 - 20 Ghana 1978 27 2 29 Ivory Coast 1977 8 13 21 Kenya 1976 26 - 26 Madagascar 1978 37 1 38 Malawi 1977 2 - 2 Maur l tama 1977 21 22 43 Maur i t ius 1977 - 2 2

N)gena 1978 583 298 881 Senegal 1977 7 - 7

Sierra Leone 1977 2 - 2

Sudan 1977 88 - 88 Tun)s~a 1978 69 - 69 Umted Repubhc of Cameroon 1978 54 - 54 Uni ted Repubhc of Tanzama 1976 52 19 71

Za)re 1977 15 - 15 Zamb)a 1978 31 - 31

Source Unesco Statl~tt~al Yearbook, p 1089

While this bleak picture is probably accurate in a global sense, it overlooks the fact that the African book industry, small though it undoubtedly remains, is in a period of rapid growth and change. Increased levels of literacy, growing numbers of African authors, and the rapid expansion and diversification of bureaucracies have all contr ibuted to the demand for viable African publishing industries Despite this evidence of dynamic growth, however, librarians a t tempt ing to acquire Afrlcana still are forced to rely to a large extent on luck and personal connect ions rather than on the s tandard bibliographic reference works which aid them in making selections of materials published in Nor th America, Europe and other parts of the "developed" world. For example, national bibliographies are still the exception rather than the rule throughout Africa. National bibliographies or the equivalent are published in Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Madagascar , Malawl, Mauritius, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and South Africa [6]. There were plans to publish one in Kenya, but they have been abandoned for financial reasons [7] However, even m countries where national bibliographies are produced, their listings are seldom comprehensive. It has been estimated that up to 80% of Nigerian publications are not reflected in that country 's national bibl iography [8]. The Nigerian national b lbhograpy is the longest-established one in West Africa, having begun as a quarterly list of publications issued by the University of lbadan Library m 1950 [9]. After 1964 it became a weekly list and in 1970, its publicat ion was taken over by the country 's national library In general, North American librarians tend to use national bibliographies more as supplementary material than as pr imary bibliographic tools [10]

Of more use on a sustained basis is the Library of Congress ' Accessions List: Eastern Africa which has been published on a quarterly basis since 1968 by the LC field office in Nalrobl, Kenya. The Nalrobl office also produces an Annual Serial Supplement and it maintains responsibility for acquisitions from the Comoro Islands, Ethiopia, the French Territory of the Afars and lssas, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawl, Mauritius, Reunion, the Seychelles, the Somah Republic, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia [ l 1 ]

140 EVA-MARIA RA1 HGEBER

While the Afrlcana acquisit ions tools available to North American l ibrarians are still relatively meager, they are considerably superior to those which existed at the beglnnmg of the 1970s A number of impor tan t bibl iographic tools were developed dur ing the 1970s The International AJrtcan Blbhography began to be published in London in 1971 on a quarterl) basis, providing a boost to Africana selectors at a time when African Studies programs were proliferating at American universities Also significant was the publicat ion in 1975, of the first edition of A/t i tan Books m Print, under the editorship of Hans M Zell It listed more than 6,000 titles published by 188 publishers, research institutions, and learned societies [12] An updated and greatly expanded version of A/rlcan Books m Print, which is complied on basis of informat ion received from African publishers, appeared in 1978 [13], and a third edit ion which will list 20,000 titles published by more than 500 African publishers and research institutes is due to appear early in 1982 Also of considerable assistance to hbrarlans ~s 7he A/rtcan Book World and Pres.~--A Director:, co-published bilingually (m English and French) by K G Saur Verlag and the Gale Research Company [ 14]. The second edition. which appeared in 1980, gives details on 4,028 inst i tut ions involved with book product ion in 51 African countries It provides data on university, college, and public libraries, on special libraries, on booksellers, publishers, insti tutional publishers, on periodicals and maga/lnes. on major newspapers, on book industry associations and literary societies, on printers and on government printers for each country Probably most useful for l ibrarians seeking to acquire Afr ican-publ ished materials, because of its immediacy, is the A/rtcan Book Pubh.shmg Record, a quarterly journa l issued from Oxford, England, which lists ne~ titles recently published by African publishers and includes a comprehensive book review section as well as informative articles about the African book trade

Another development dur ing the 1970s has been an increased effort on the part of some African publishers to reach the overseas market Many now submit copies of new publicat ions to internat ional journals for review and some routinely send out announcements of new titles and catalogues to foreign hbrarles and to lndlwduals with an expressed interest in African books Moreover, there are a number of speclahzed acquisit ions informat ion services such as the African Imprint Library Services in Bedford, N.Y, from which North American l ibrarians can order directly, thereby bypassing the frustrations of trying to procure material from small African publishers.

Despite all these advances of the 1970s, the successtul acquisi t ion of material directly from African publishers IS still heavily dependent on personal contacts and luck The problem is not simply one of lack of informat ion about African-published matermls As has been seen, concerted and relatively successful efforts have been made to solve this problem within the past decade The problem is rather one of what can perhaps best be described as poor commumcat lons As every North American librarian who has c~,er tried to order directly from Africa knows, this can be a t ime-consuming and frustrating process Not uncommonly three reminders must be sent before an order is filled Advance payment is often demanded and not infrequently orders simply are not filled Not surprisingly, in view of these difficulties, North American librarians tend to look fu-st for books on Afrlcana which have been pubhshed in Western countries and secondly to order through Afrlcana distr ibutors such as African Imprint Library Services or BlackwelFs in Oxford, England.

Why do so many African publishers show this apparent lack of concern for the most basic good business practlces'~ It would seem to be in their own best interests to fill orders reasonably quickly, to answer requests for informat ion which might well lead to future orders, and to send regularly informat ion on new titles to free blbhographlc listing services

Afrlcana AcqmsLtmns Problems 141

such as the AJrtcan Book Pubh~hmg Record In order to answer these questions it is necessary to examine more closely the constraints under which African publishers operate

THE D I F F I C U L T I E S OF P U B L I S H I N G IN A F R I C A N C O U N T R I E S

African publishers must contend with a number ol serious obstacles, some of which are not faced or are faced to a lesser degree by their counterpar ts in the metropol i tan countries Operat ional handicaps such as undercapl tahzat lon, inadequate print ing facilities, the neces- sity to publish m several languages, limited markets and small print runs, untrained personnel, poor d l s t r lbunon networks and compet i t ion from better endowed mult inat ional publishers, frequently combine to cause African publishers to appear less efficient than publishers in the metropole Some of these handicaps, and the impact which they have on the shape of the book product ion industry m African countries, are discussed below

~'OFIOIHICS

The most pervasive problem faced by fledgling Third World publishers is that of undercapitahzatxon. To a significant extent, undercapi tahzat lon also is the root cause of the other difficulties which are elaborated below In general, book publishing is not a high profit venture and the initial capital Investments reqmred to cover start-up costs can be quite substantial , especially in countries where lnfrastructural support is lacking and it is necessary for publishers to undertake tasks which in metropol i tan countries can be contracted to outside agencies Not uncommonly , African publishers must assume responsibility for their own composi t ion, presswork, and binding since there are no specialized firms to handle these funcnons

The chronic undercapl tahza t ion of many African book publishers partly is due to the fact that investment opportuni t ies in developing economies are almost limitless and book publ ishing does not offer the high rate of returns that can be earned elsewhere It has been esnmated that the profit margins of indigenous publishing houses in India is only about ten percent [15], and the African experience is similar Moreover, perhaps because of Initial undercapl tahzaton , indigenous publishing houses experience a high rate of business failure, and consequent ly they are not seen as good financial risks by banks and other potential investors. It is clear that prospective indigenous publishers at tempting to obtain financial backing are often caught in a circle whereby they are denied loans because of the high risk of business failure and the rate of business failure is in turn influenced by the tendency to start publishing houses on "shoestring" financial investments.

The worldwide escalation of paper prices dur ing the past decade has severely affected Third World publishers Most African countries do not produce their own print ing paper and are forced to bid for dwindling world supplies at highly competitive prices Further, some African governments , such as that of Nigeria, impose heavy taxes on imported paper unless it can clearly be shown that it is being imported for educat ional purposes Small indigenous publishers, who can afford to buy paper only as they need it from local importers who have already prod the import tax, are thus forced to pay higher prices than their mul t ina t ional counterpar ts who have the financial resources to import paper directly from abroad and specifically for educat ional purposes, thus bypassing the import tax [16] Efforts are now being made to establish pulp and paper industries in some African countries For example, the Panafr lcan Paper Mills in Webuye, Kenya, joint ly built by lndmn and Kenyan

142 EVA-MARIA RATHGEBER

interests in the 1970s, now supply 70% of Kenya's domestic paper requirements The mills also export to more than 20 countries, thereby adding to Kenyan foreign exchange earnings [17]. However, such success stories are relatively rare and in most African countries paper shortages and high prices cont inue to be a major concern for publishers

Prmtmg In most African countries there is only a handful of printers with the necessary equipment

and experience to under take bookwork. Some publishers have set up their own print ing operat ions; others have had to accept long waiting periods before overburdened local printers are able to take on their manuscripts It is now becoming common for print ing to be done overseas, in places like Hong Kong and Singapore where cheaper rates are available, but this also has inherent disadvantages for African publishers First, it creates a distance between the publisher and the printer which leads to a greater possibility of undetected errors in the printed material; second, the turnover time in sending manuscript , galley proofs and page proofs is lengthy, and third, and most impor tant for many indigenous African publishers, payment must be made in foreign currency which is difficult and bureaucratically tedious to obtain.

Publishing technology has undergone radical changes during the past two decades and publishers in Western countr ies have overwhelmingly opted for use of new compute r technology which is both t ime-saving and cost-effective However, use of the new technology necessitates a number of condit ions which are not always present in Third World countries, such as a steady source of electricity, rehable maintenance engineers, and ready access to spare parts. Aside from such practical considerat ions, computer technology is most cost effective when used in large print runs. Datus Smith estimated in 1977 that in Africa composi t ion and presswork costs were still most economical using the tradit ional linotype and letterpress methods for print runs of 10,000 or less [18] It is clear that if Smith's estimates are correct, the in t roduct ion of computer setting and offset printing, al though

occurring, will not necessarily be as effective in fighting rising product ion costs as it has proved to be for some Western publishers.

While there are problems Involved with the use of modern print ing technology, the older style of book product ion is not without its own set of disadvantages Perhaps most fundamen ta l is the difficulty revolved in finding competent , rehable printers who are able to do book work quickly and efficiently There are, of course, such printers in many African countries, but they are usually heavily commit ted and require a long lead time to take on new work Further, they suffer from their own lnfrastructural problems Paper is prohibi- tively expensive, as discussed above; ink is sometimes in short supply, and offset plates, which must also be imported from abroad, are not always readily available The situation varies from country to country and it is difficult to generalize, but it is clear that book product ion in African countries is both more arduous and more haphazard than in Western countries

Personnel Book publishing is a relatively little known occupation In many African countries.

Interviews with university professors in Nigeria in 1978 indicated that even some members of this elite group were uncer ta in of the exact funct ion of the university press [19] It is not

unlikely that a survey in North America would reveal similar confusion Among the general

Afncana Acqmslttons Problems 143

populace, xn many African countries, there ~s even greater vagueness about book publishing Entrepreneurs have occasionally started pubhshmg ventures with hopes of turning over a rapid profit and indeed there are a few examples such as that of David Malllu, a writer of torrid romances who founded and ran the phenomenal ly successful Comb Books in Kenya during the 1970s. Most commonly , however, African publishers have emerged from the

ranks of booksellers or schoolteachers. Such individuals rarely have specialized t raining in book pubhshlng Many of the booksel ler /publ ishers adopt the latter role only at certain times of the year, i.e., in order to take advantage of the lucrative school textbook market, and they have little or no commi tment to establishing wable book publishing operations or to producing books of a w~der variety Even when such an interest does exist, it is difficult for them to obtain financial backing, as has already been discussed.

Most indigenous African publishing houses are small operations with httle role diver- Slflcatlon Manuscr ipt acquisit ion, editing, design, promot ion, and dis t r ibut ion are all handled by the same person or persons. Not surprisingly, editorial quahty is sometimes a secondary concern

In recent years a number of publ ishing houses have been established by writers and scholars, who for varying reasons, have wished to pubhsh their own work Reference has already been made to David Malllu's establishment of Comb Books m Kenya The first titles published by Comb were written by Malllu himself. Later the company expanded to publish the work of other Kenyan authors. In Nigeria there also has been a trend for authors to establish their own pubhshmg houses For example, novelist Flora Nwapa announced at the 1980 Frankfur t Book Fair, the creation of Tana Books in Enugu which was intended to pubhsh some of her own work on the role of women in Nigeria but also to produce books for N~gerlan children and later books about African children for the overseas market [20]

Similarly, m recent years a number of estabhshed African authors who in the past have pubhshed their works with overseas compames or with mult inat ional companies in Africa, have given support to fledghng indigenous publishers in an effort to assist the growth of local

publ ishing industries Writers such as Chinua Achebe, Kole Omotoso and Ngugi wa Thiong 'o have all been vocal in their support of African pubbshlng houses and all have offered their work to small indigenous houses However there are a number of compelling reasons why many African authors still prefer to pubhsh overseas, including the receipt of royalty payments in foreign currency, the prospect of reaching a wider internat ional audience, and to some extent, the prestige which is associated with being pubhshed by a major metropol i tan publishing house The indigenous houses often are unable to distribute their publications outs ide the coun t ry because of inadequa te d i s t r ibu t ion ne tworks and meager capital resources Similarly, the p romot ion actlwtles under taken by small indigenous houses are often nonexis tent or severely limited

Language The quest ion of language is becoming increasingly important . Virtually all African

countr ies are linguistically diverse In some cases, a local language may be spoken by only a few thousand people, in others, Lt may be spoken by several million in various countries This is true, for example, of languages such as Yoruba and Hausa in West Africa or Swahlh in East Africa These are major languages with potentially large audiences for pubhshed materials. Most African languages, however, are spoken by relatively small groups and the level of literacy within each language group Is even smaller. Further , it is not u n c o m m o n for individuals to be literate m a met ropol i tan language but dhterate in their mother tongue.

144 EVA-MARIA RATHGEBER

This is not surprising in view of the fact that most education, especially at the secondary and tertiary levels, is still conducted in the language introduced by the former colonial power [21]. Moreover, in the past there has been prestige associated with hteracy m a metropol i tan language which is not necessarily accorded in the same degree to acquisi t ion of hteracy m indigenous languages

The economic disadvantages of pubhshmg in all but a few major indigenous languages are substantial For the most part, pubhcat~ons in African languages have a hmlted market and little export potential. National dis t r ibut ion channels are usually dominated by the European language publishers al though m some cases the latter also publish some indigenous titles, usually schoolbooks Orthographies in some languages have not yet been fully developed or fully agreed upon, and this compounds editorial problems. Often special equipment is required to print in languages which utilize different symbols and letters than the dominan t European language, causing addit ional expense and inconvenience

In recent years, the issue of writing and pubhshlng in indigenous languages has become increasingly pohtlClZed A number of well-estabhshed A l n c a n writers who formerly wrote in a European language, on principle, have started to write and pubhsh their work initially m their mother tongues Kenyan novelist and playwright, Ngugl wa Thiong 'o (formerly known as .lames Ngugi), has made clear on a number of occasions his preference for writing In African languages because he is committed to the idea that his work should be read and seen first by the audience from which it draws its inspirat ion and roots [22]

Despite such evidence of a growing desire among some Alrlcan authors to write and pubhsh in their mother tongues, publishing m the indigenous languages is still u n c o m m o n in most African countries. Some of the biggest publishers who have already established solid markets m the metropol i tan languages, have m recent years started to publish a few titles in indigenous languages, particularly primary school textbooks On the whole, however, multfl lngual pubhshlng is far less developed m Atrlcan countries than m South and Southeast Asian countries where a substant ial por t ion of all pubhshmg is now carried on in local languages [23]

The Multmattonals Mult inat ional pubhshlng companies cont inue to be prominent forces in Alrlcan book

publishing The six major mul t inat ionals in English-speaking Africa are Eongman, Oxford, Helnemann, Evans, Macmil lan and Thomas Nelson. In some countries the local staff of these companies is completely lndlgemzed, in others there are still expatriate employees at

the senior levels The mul t inat ionals were the first commercial publishers in Africa and their presence has a

long and active history The background of Oxford University Press m Nigeria provides a good i l lustrat ion [24]. In the 1920s a search editor from Britain was sent to Nigeria to explore the book needs of the country, particularly in the area of primary school texts The most appropria te titles on the OUP list were then exported to N~gerla to fill these needs A few years later, British teachers were commissioned to write books (in Britain) specifically 1or Nigerian children Later, in the 1940s, O U P set up a branch olflce in Nigeria, at first with only a single representative, and began to encourage local authors (usually British school- teachers working in Nigeria) to write for local audiences. In the 1960s, O U P (Nigeria) began to handle all aspects of publ icat ion m Nigeria, including editing, design and product ion Today, OUP's Nigerian office has a strong local publishing program and the company 's name in that country has been changed to University Press L~mlted Nevertheless, the 1970

Atrlcana Acqulslnons Problems 145

Report of the Commit tee on the University Press, issued by the University of Oxford, noted, "the overseas branches and offices were created essentially as agencies for the promot ion, distr ibution, and sale of the Clarendon Press and London publications" [25]

The history of He lnemann Educat ional Books in Africa is perhaps more typical The company became interested in the African market in the early 1960s and in 1962 established its AIrlcan Writers Series This highly successful and prestigious series has now published more than 250 original works of fiction by African authors and has fulfilled an important tunct lon in making African literature available not onl 5, in Africa but a round the world. HEB established a Nigerian office in 1962 and a Nalrobl office in 1968 The Nigerian office was under indigenous management from the outset, the Kenyan office has been headed by a Kenyan since 1976 The Kenyan office is active in educational pubhshlng both in Swahlll and English Despite the impor tant publishing funct ion served by these offices, howe,~er, they also are involved in selling and promot ing books published by H E B / U K A company executive estimated in 1979 that more than one-half of the H E B / U K books were sold through the ten stockholdlng offices overseas [26]. Thus the mul t inat ional firms operating m African countries usually have a dual mandate to develop manuscripts and publishing projects both in English or French and in indigenous languages for the country or regions in which they are located, but also to sell books published by the metropol i tan office

While many of the mul t ina t ional companies operat ing in Africa have published impor tant hterary and scholarb works, the bulk of their business hes in the lucrative educational market. It is estimated that in Nigeria more than 80% of the book market is in textbook sales [27], and the si tuat ion is similar in other countries. It has often been stated [28],although perhaps not entirely correctly, that most Africans read and buy books only for uti l i tarian educat ional purposes and that there is little incentive for a publisher to take on titles which are not easily classified within this category, ghe ~alldtty of this perspective is doubtful in view ol the success of locally written and published popular romances and sell'- help books in Nigeria and Kenya, but certainly the mult inat ionals have for the most part confined their interests to the development of educat ional books

To argue, as some have done, that the function of the mul t inat ional publishers in Africa is t o t a l l y e x p l o l t a t l v e l s b o t h u n f a l r a n d l n c o r r e c t Probably the dominance of the big six over the educat ional markets in man}' African countries has indeed made it difficult for small indigenous firms to gain a share ol this lucrative business However the mult inat ionals were usually serving the educat ional market before indigenous firms existed. Indigenous pro- fesslonals can now be found in most Atrlcan countries, and in many cases they received their t ra in ing through a period of service with a mul t ina t ional firm Moreover, as has been pointed out, the mult inat ionals are themselves mostly lndlgenlTed at this point. Despite these positive aspects, it cannot be denied that the mul t inat ionals operate with many advantages which cause an tagonism towards them on the part of some less well-endowed African publishers They have access to internat ional dis t r ibut ion networks, to pools of highly skilled personnel, to reservoirs of capital, including hard currency, and they have international reputations as book publishers which make them attractive to many authors who are seeking to place their works with prestigious houses.

Ultimately of course, the "problem" of the mul t ina t ional presence in African book publishing will be handled at the governmenta l level It seems clear that the mul t ina t ionals will have to relinquish some of their hold over the textbook market, and indeed they hax, e already done so in some countries Overall, however, the potential oI the general African book market is so great, especially as literacy rates increase th roughout the cont inent and as reading habits are developed, that there is room for both indigenous and mul t inat ional publishers

146 EVA-MARIA RATHGEBER

A L T E R N A T I V E A P P R O A C H E S TO THE A C Q U I S I T I O N S P RO BLEM

The obstacles which have been outhned above are by no means a complete catalogue of the difficulties encountered by African publishers. Effective dis tr ibut ion of books, particu- larly to the in terna t ional market, cont inues to be a major problem. Agencies which handle this impor tant part of the pubhshlng process are few and publishers are usually' forced to make their own arrangements The idea of actively promot ing books is being accepted only slowly, many publishers still consider this to be the responsibility of booksellers Indeed, p romot ion media are few There is no African book trade journa l such as Pubhshers Weekly or The Bookseller al though The African Book Pubhshlng Record, which is issued four times per a n n u m , has some similarity with the American and British trade journals Aside from these concrete problems, some African publishers also display a rather relaxed att i tude towards their business commitments which may be exasperating for Westerners who are accustomed to working in a different way

In view of all these difficulties, It IS perhaps surprising that any African-published books find their way onto North American library shelves. To some extent, the fact that this occurs is due to an increased interest among some African publishers in expanding into the North American market, but to a large part it is due also to the persistence, patience, and optimism of Afrlcana l ibrarians It is clear, however, that African book product ion will cont inue to increase during the forseeable future, as literacy expands and the demand for educat ional and trade books grows As a result, Africana selections will become even more problematical for North American librarians Faced with larger and larger selection possibilities and dwindling acquisit ions budgets, l ibrarians will have to make difficult choices

Essentially the problem of acquiring published materials from Africa is two-fold. First there is the difficulty of f inding out what is available or what has been published; second there is the problem of obta ining this material The first part of the problem, the informat ion gap, has been partly solved by the increased number of bibliographic reference tools which haxe become available dur ing the past decade The second part of the problem still remains substantial in many cases As long as African publishers do not respond promptly to mall enquiries, ordering directly from them will be a frustrating, t ime-consuming and expensive business for North American libraries

There are at least two ways that North American libraries can effectively cope with these problems, both involving cooperat ion among a number of Africana-collectlng libraries. Ideally, such insti tutions should sponsor jo int acquisitions trips at periodic intervals, to be under taken by a group of librarians who are knowledgeable about African publishing. If such trips were under taken on a fairly regular basis, it would be possible for libraries to collect most of the material which is of interest to their clientele A second, more expensive but perhaps more effective solution, would be for Afrlcana-collectlng libraries to establish a jo in t acquisit ions office in an African country with an active pubhshlng industry Nigeria would be an obvious choice. Representatives of this office could under take periodic

acquisit ions trips to neighboring countries, thus ensuring that all material of interest to member libraries is collected or at least noted Both of these suggestions are expensive and, certainly in this time of reduced budgets, may be difficult to implement, but this is a period of growth in the African book publishing industry and it is doubtful that an American l ibrary which utilizes only the normal Africana acquisit ions channels will be able to select in a truly comprehensive way

In the long term, as the African book pubhshlng industry grows, and as a book d l s m b u t l o n infrastructure is developed in most countries, acquisit ions problems will become

Afncana Acquisitions Problems 147

less acute for librarians. Presumably as the African book market develops, systematic promot ion , distribution and business procedures will be adopted. Review media will be expanded and Afncana-col lect lng libraries will regularly be sent catalogues and other pubhclty materials. The solutions suggested here are temporary in the sense that they will probably not be necessary for an indefinite period of time. The African b o o k industry is vastly different today than it was even 15 years ago and changes continue to occur rapidly In the interim, however, it may be to the advantage of North American libraries to consider participation in a cooperative acquisitions venture

N O T E S A N D R E F E R E N C E S

I The points raised below owe much to discussions with the following individuals Dorothy Woodson, Undergraduate Library, State University of New York at Buffalo, and George McCubbln, Head of Acquisitions, Syed Naseer, Selector for Afrlcana, and Victor deBreyne, Head Searcher, all of McLennan Library, McGfll University, Montreal

2 Hasan, Abul "Book Production A Global View " In Educational Pubhshmg in Developmg Countries Proceedings of an international seminar held from 12 February to 15 February 1978 at New Delhi New Delhi National Book Trust, 1980, pp 9-18

3 Unesco Statistical Yearbook, 1980, pp 978-88 4 See, for example, Hans M Zell "Die Entwlcklung des Buch- und Verlagswesens ~n Schwarz-Afrlka in den 80er

Jahren Eln Jahrzehnt der Herausforderung und Chancen '" In Petra E Dorsch and Konrad H Teckentrup (eds), Buch und Lesen International Bertchte und Analv~en zum Buchmarkt und zur Buchmarkt-Forschung Gutersloh (West Germany) Verlag fur Buchmarkt und Medlen-Forschung, 1981, pp I I 1-48 This article

presents a comprehensive review of the state of African publishing, discussing both the scope of the book industry in different African countries and the general problems faced by publishers in African countries

5 Unesco, op Clt

6 Kohl, Ernest "Acquisitions Problems of Africa South of the Sahara " In D A Clarke (ed), Acqutsmons From the Third World Papers of the Llgue des Blbhothbques europeenes de recherche seminar, 17-19 September 1973 London Mansell, 1975, pp 85-103

7 Armstrong, James C "Africa," LC Acqutsttlon~ and Trends, 5 (Februar~ 1979), 20-22 8 Panofsky, Hans E "Afr lcana" In "Workshop on Acquisitions From the Third World," Janlce Carroll and

James Thompson (eds), Library Acqutsmons Practice and Theory, I, no 2 (1977), 117-33 9 Aklnyotu, Adetunjl "The State of Education and Library Services in West Africa A Brief Review'"

International Library Revww, 8, no 2 (April 1976). 217-29 10 Panofsky, op Clt

II Armstrong, op Clt

12 Zell, Hans M (ed) A/rtcan Books m Print An Index b) Author, Titles, Suble~t Part I 1975 London and lie-Ire, Nigeria Mansell Information Publishers and Umverslty of lfc Press, 1975

13 Zell, Hans M (ed) A[rlcan Books In Print An Index bl' Author, Sub/cot and Title London Mansell Information Publishing, 1978

14 Zell, Hans M (Ed) The A/ruan Book Worldand Press A Directory (2nd ed ) Munich K B Saur Verlag/Gale Research Company. 1980

15 Altbach, Philip G Pubhshmg m India An Anah'sts Delhi and New York Oxford University Press, 1975 16 Smith, Kelth "'Who Controlls Book Publishing in Anglophone Middle Africa 9"' Annal~ o/ the American

Academ~ of Pohtualand Social Sctence~, 421 (September 1978), 140-50 17 The Standard(Nalrobl) March 24, 1981 18 Smith, Datus C Jr The Economtcso/Book Pubhshmgm Developing Countrte~ Reportsand Papers on Mass

Communlcatmns, no 79 Paris Unesco, 1977, pp 17-18 19 Rathgeber. Eva-Maria M "The Nigerian University Presses and the Formation of an Intellectual Elite "" M A

thesis. McGIII University, 1978

20 Zell "Die Entwlcklung des Buch- und Verlagswesen in Schwarz-Afrlka in den 80er Jahren,'" op Clt 21 For a comprehensive discussion of multlhngual publishing see Hasan, Abul The Book m Multlhngual

Countrle~ Paris Unesco, 1978

22 Ngugl wa Thlong'o "1-he National Struggle to Survive," The Guardian (Manchester) Monday, June 11, 1979, p 13

148 EVA-MARIA RATHGEBER

23 Hasan The Book m Mul t thngual Countries, op clt 24 Mitchell, Wflham "The Role of the Non-Indigenous Pubhsher "" In Publishing m ,~tgerta Benin City, Nigeria

Ethlope Pubhshlng Corporation, 1972, pp 34-43

25 University of Oxford "Report of the Committee on the Um',erslt~ Press " 1970, p 24 26 Hill, Alan "Building an Empire," The Bool~eller, September 15 [979, pp 1282-86 27 Esslen-Udom, Ruby "The Umverslty Press as Pubhsher in Alrlca "' In P u b h s h m g m ~'t~,erta Benin Cit~

Nigeria Ethlope Pubhshmg Corporation, 1972, pp 20-25 28 Nigerian Sunda¢ Observer (Lagos) August 31, 1975