Article Note: On Chinese aid in developing libraries in Africa

This is a short article that begins to explore the topic of Chinese investment in the African continent, specifically investing in developing local libraries. The reason I read this was one of my students. They were doing broader research on China and its Belt and Road Initiative. When helping them with their research, this article came up. I figured they could maybe mine the citations for additional resources, but otherwise this article was not for them. However, an article about libraries often catches my eye, and since it was short, I read it. 

I wrote that the article begins to explore the topic as the author states that little research has been done on this area. The author's study then strives to see how China is investing in libraries on the continent. To do so, the author does a newspapers and news content analysis; the study relied on China Daily. China Daily is a Chinese English language newspaper; it is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and it is a source many around the world read even with that caveat as it provides important information on Chinese issues. Author does acknowledge there are limitations to using China Daily as the research source such as possible biases from the newspaper's ownership. 

Author found that the Chinese invest in library development in three main ways: 

• China provides direct funding and is involved in a library's construction.
• A Chinese multinational corporation may be involved, a form of corporate social responsibility. 
• Other NGOs may be involved in developing a library 

Forms of aid can range from infrastructure and construction to donating books. Author notes book donations can have mixed results, especially if a lot of the donations are books written in Chinese that may have limited use and/or interest in the African nations. Author ends by calling for further research in this area. 

Citation for the article: 

Swapan Kumar Patra, "Chinese aid in the library development of Africa: a brief survey." Annals of Library and Information Studies Vol. 70 (2023): 126-131.