Services at Sesigo e-library

The computers in the Sesigo e-library were used for both word processing and accessing Internet. The users varied across gender; age; professions; and economic activity. The community members applauded the Internet service at the library for being free, fast and user friendly. For example, one of the interviewed free lance photo journalists noted that:

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“In our office the Internet is very poor and it can take hours to download one photo, so we use the Internet here in the library since it is much faster. However I had never used Internet at the Internet cafe‟s because I can‟t afford to pay, that‟s why I prefer the one in the library because it is free”

Reference to “our office” in this case was to government press agency offices. Two other participants that were interviewed at the hospital made a comment that, “at least the computers are consistently running”. The researcher learned that the librarian and the other three library staff had undergone some basic training on troubleshooting. The infomidiaries also reported that they contacted the BNLS head office whenever there was any challenge with the computers. This explained why the computers in this access centres were always in good condition.

The researcher also observed that the library was also the only access point that had services that catered for younger children. This was further affirmed by the young business man that operated a stationery shop in the village when he noted that at the library “children are offered lessons in the afternoons and I think it is a good thing”. One of the two women that were interviewed at the hair salon also alluded to a special children‟s program that the library offered. The other woman said “There are three primary schools in the village and each is allocated a day to use the library”. The participants who worked as cleaners at the primary school also noted that children were catered for at the Sesigo e-library. The researcher also saw a training schedule for primary schools that was posted on the wall in the librarian‟s office.

The discussion with the three boys that were regular users of the library however did not reveal that they were aware of any dedicated programs for young children. These boys even pointed that, due to lack of supervision, the older users at times bullied them out of the computers. One of the boys said he was taught how to use the computer by a friend in his neighbourhood while the other said he was self taught. These boys however acknowledged that there were computer lessons offered at the school that they attended. It emerged that the boys did not appreciate the school computers that much

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because of lack of Internet. The boys also seemed to enjoy working independently at the library. The researcher however learned from the infomidiaries at the library that there were children‟s programs and that these young ones were mainly taught how to draw and how to type their names.

The library had programs to inform and educate the community on basic computer skills and how to access and use the Internet. The two users that were interviewed together as users of Kitsong Centre also noted that “at the library there are people who teach basics in computing”. One of the lady cleaners at a local primary school reported that although she once used the Kitsong Centre for her typing needs, she acquired the basic computer skills at the library. The government driver that was interviewed at the library said that “it all started here in the library”. He said this in response to a question that sought to establish where he learned how to use the computer.

The gardener at the library, who also served as part of the team that trained the community, indicated in an interview that the training programs had been running since 2012. He further added that the training was mainly in Setswana, although the hand outs were in English. Another participant that was interviewed as a user at Ga-Mosotho Investment also commended the Sesigo e-library for the community training programs. The young man who operated a stationery shop also indicated that the library had programs to impart skills for the youth and that he wished such programs could be extended to elderly people.

Although the infomidiaries at the Sesigo e-library indicated that the training programs were open to all members of the community, it emerged that some members of the community mistook that the training was for the younger community members. According to one of the infomidiaries at the library, most of the people who came in for trainings were usually out of school youth. This was mainly because the trainings were done during school hours and those in school are not able to attend. This may explain why the three nine year old boys that were cited earlier on did not know of any training programs.

136 5.3.5 Users of Sesigo e-library

As indicated in the preceding discussion on the services that are offered at this centre, the users were drawn to the library by free and faster Internet The journalist that was cited earlier also out-rightly said that he would not use Internet where he had to pay. He also noted that the Internet at the library was faster than the one at his office.

One of the interviewed participants noted that although the library Internet seemed the most popular, it seemed to be frequented by “the same faces every time and if it‟s a new face they bring their own laptop”. This user, who was a young local businessman, said he spend at least one hour at the library every day. The participant used the computers at the library. Even the librarian reported that this user was one of the regular faces at the library. Throughout the data collection phase, the researcher continued to meet this user at the library and held informal and unrecorded discussions with him whenever there was an opportunity to do so.

There was also a set of three nine-year old boys who participated as users of the library. These boys also indicated that they came for the computers at the library almost daily at around 1400hrs. Indeed the researcher saw these users at the library for three consecutive days. The two journalists that were interviewed together at the library also declared that they were regular users at the library. The librarian also affirmed that these were regular users.

Three other male participants respectively aged 18, 19 and 20 years old reported that they accessed Internet at the library. These were interviewed in a group at Photozone Studio while they were waiting to be served there. Two of them were out of school and not engaged in any economic activity, while the other one said he was a form fur student. The participants indicated that they used the Internet for leisure and social networking. One of them specifically said that he uses the network to keep abreast with the life of his favourite celebrities. When asked what he benefited from information about the celebrities he said “I learned that celebrities need discipline and I also got influence by that”. Still within this group, one of the participants added that they also

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used the Internet for “new things like downloading music and movies”. One of the female participants that were interviewed as a user at Kitsong Centre also said she knew of a DJ that downloaded his music from the Internet at the library.

Although the young male participants cited in the preceding paragraph were regular users of the Internet at the library, one of them acknowledged that “I sometimes go to the Internet café next door”. This participant was referring to Jeirah Internet Café which was in the same compound with the centre he was interviewed from.

Although the Internet at the library was predominantly used by local youth for leisure, some users, especially the workers used it for professional purposes. For example, the two participating journalists indicated that they used the Internet at the library for work and school purposes. They also indicated that their colleagues in the profession also at times used the library services for accessing Internet.

The young man operating a stationery shop also indicated that he used the Internet at the library for both business and leisure. He also cited cases of people he knew in the village who applied for jobs and secured jobs by using email that the accessed at the library. This user also said that being able to access Internet from especially the library had helped him further his passion for drawing and designing invitation cards. He said he used the Internet from the library to find different designs and that this has shortened his turnaround time for card design and production. This user also said he used the Internet to listen to music through his personal headphones that he brings to the library. The Infomidiary at Photozone Studio also said he used the Internet at the library. He said he mostly accessed it to download antivirus software. He commended the library staff for being helpful on this.

The library also allowed users to access WIFI using their personal laptops. For example, the two journalists and the unemployed youth indicated that at times they brought their laptops to access the wireless network. The present researcher also observed that the teachers were using the wireless connection for both social networks and responding to online career development opportunities. Informal unrecorded

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discussions with these teachers revealed that that they were applying for online sponsorship for further education. The researcher also used this network and can attest that it was especially very good in the evenings when the library was closed.

The profile of the users described above shows that users at this Centre ranged from primary school users; out of school youth; professionals and the business community. The users also ranged from children to adults and from locals to non-citizens. Although the discussion above was specific to the Sesigo e-library, the pattern of users also mirrored that of the user community for all the centres in the village.