Promoting Innovation in Namibian Libraries through Leadership Training

Namibian community, regional and school libraries are engaged as active development partners that support education, innovation, knowledge creation, and economic development across the nation’s fourteen regions. In 2014-2015, Namibia’s Millennium Challenge Account Compact further strengthened library services by constructing and equipping three new Regional Libraries, which have the capability to use the latest technologies and innovations to bring information to their users. In addition to strong collections and technology, the Regional Libraries and all Namibian libraries require strong leadership in order to deliver innovative services that further development. To address this need, the Namibia Library and Archives Service partnered with the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs to implement the Strengthening Innovative Library Leadership (SILL) training program, a project funded with support through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In this paper, we describe the methods SILL uses to encourage innovation among all ranks of library staff and then provide examples that demonstrate how the SILL training has helped Namibian libraries strengthen their services and promote community innovation and development.