22 Jul 2026

Members of Parliament (MPs) have supported the review of the National Library Service Act to transform the national library services.

Commenting on the Bill presented to Parliament by the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Major General Pius Mokgware on Thursday, Okavango West legislator, Mr Kenny Kapinga proposed for migration policy to transition from analogue to digital where there would be audio books and digital pictures.

Mr Kapinga said the young generation was tech-savvy and the transformation of national libraries should provide for them.

Speaking on presidential library, Mr Kapinga said establishing such a library was an expensive task, especially that the convention was to establish it at respective home villages of such former Presidents.

Mr Kapinga also said funding of the presidential library should not solely be from government, urging that most funds should be from donors and the private sector.

Additionally, Mr Kapinga said a presidential library should extend to a monument or museum.

“It should be a recreational or amusement facility where people would be allowed to spend a day relaxing,” he said.

Kgatleng East MP, Mr Mabuse Pule said it would be ideal to have a centre, which catered for all former Presidents to curb costs.

Mr Pule suggested that the presidential library should be based at an identified place, preferably Gaborone.

He said libraries should be modernised and called for incorporation of indigenous languages libraries, which would help people with pronunciation of indigenous words, particularly foreigners who visited community libraries.

MP for Shashe West, Mr Jeremiah Frenzel said libraries should take into recognition, People Living With Disabilities to enable them to access information with ease.  He also appealed to government to consider establishing public libraries outside schools for easy access.

Tlokweng MP, Mr Phenyo Segokgo urged the minister to tie the review of the Act to creation of jobs and Botswana’s economic transformation programmes.

He said digitalisation of libraries would create opportunities for software developers while authors and publishers would also have more job opportunities.

MP for Kgatleng West, Dr Unity Dow said while she welcomed the review of the Act, the good ideas could not be fulfilled with the current financial situation the country faced. ENDS