Roderick Samson Mabomba

Roderick Samson Mabomba (September 25, 1948 – June 7, 2001) was an important library leader in Malawi. He worked hard to make Information Science not only an important subject to study in Malawi but also to bring libraries to the attention of the Malawi government. He spoke at numerous conferences, presenting his papers to show the world a view of libraries from Africa, giving them a voice.

Education

St. Patrick's Secondary School.

College of Librarianship, Aberystwyth, Wales (1968–1970).

University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Wales (1984–1985). MLib.

Career

Library Assistant, Chancellor College University Library (1968)

Assistant Librarian, University of Malawi (1971–1975)

Chief Librarian, British Council of Malawi (1975–1978)

National Librarian, National Library Service of Malawi (1978–2001)

Awards and Leadership

1999 International Librarian of the Year

Founding member and President (1976–1978) of the Malawi Library Association

Publications

“Libraries in Malawi” Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science 17, 1975, pp. 1–55

“The Role of National Information Transfer” ESCRBICA Journal, 4, 1979, pp. 21–28

A Manual for Small Libraries in Malawi, 1981.

“The Development of Librarianship in the Third World: A View from Africa” Inspel 1987, 21:4, pp. 181–203

“Youth and Libraries, An African Experience”, paper, Fourth Conference of National Librarians of Southern Africa, Bisho, South Africa, 1989.

“The Role of Librarians in Combating Illiteracy, The Africa Perspective”, paper, National Symposium on Year of Reader, Cape Town, South Africa, 1990.

“The Relationship between National Libraries and the Development of School and Public Libraries”, paper, Conference of National Librarians of Southern Africa, Mmabatho, 1990.

“Improving Access to Information in Rural Africa, The Rural Library Experiment in Malawi”, paper, IFLA, Conference, Barcelona, 1993.