The role of the human resource development unit of the department of Arts and Culture in promoting a culture of reading in the Edendale community.

Abstract

The investment in education will go a long way in addressing challenges of high levels of illiteracy, inequality, poverty and unemployment among poor communities. The contemporary literature indicates that high levels of illiteracy is responsible for the high levels of poverty mainly in the developing nations. Against this background, the study investigated the role of the Human Resource Development Unit of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture (HRD Unit of the KZN-DAC) in building learning societies through the development of reading habits in the Edendale community which falls under the Umsunduzi Local Municipality. The literature reviewed for the study pointed to the fact that the Sub-Saharan African region has the lowest rate of literacy of all the world regions, and that the public library system in Africa is beset by numerous challenges, particularly a lack of human resources, financial constraints and low levels of awareness for the role of libraries within communities. The study used Human Capital Theory to argue that the creation of much needed human capital for economic growth in South Africa depends mainly on a strong culture of reading. In this regard, the three elements of Human Capital Theory, namely: investment in education; advancement of population; and efficiency and productivity of employees are discussed in relation to the current study. The empirical survey was conducted through the mixed methods approach in which data collecion was conducted in a two-folded manner. Firstly, the semi-structured interviews (qualitative study) were conducted with officials from the KZN-DAC and Georgetown Public Library to solicit their views and opinions about the role of library services in the Edendale community. Secondly, the questionnaires were administered (quantitative study) to the community members of the Edendale community in order to draw statistical conclusions about their understanding of how libraries should be managed in order to produce positive results for community development. The findings of the study demonstrates that, due to resource constraints, the HRD Unit of the KZN-DAC is not playing a meaningful role in equipping the librarians with skills necessary for the promotion of a culture of reading in communities. Instead, this role is to some extent, played by the Msunduzi Municipality Library Services. The findings of the study also demonstrates that the HRD Unit of the KZN-DAC is not budgeting for the training of public librarians to equip them with requisite skills and knowledge for promoting a culture of reading. The recommendations of the study points to the need for exploring ways of closing the gap between the Municipality Library Services, the Library Information Association of South Africa (LIASA), the HRD Unit of the KZN-DAC and the Library Services Directorate of the KZN-DAC with regard to the initiatives geared towards the promotion of a culture of reading.