Budgeting for library resources in colleges of education: Some findings from Botswana

This paper is based on a study carried out in Botswana. The study examined the trend of allocations of materials budgets in Botswana colleges of education libraries from 2000 to 2004. Preliminary investigations had revealed that the information materials in the libraries appeared inadequate for the library clients. With the senior librarians in the six colleges forming the target group, a 21-item questionnaire was administered to the group. It was noted that the college libraries received annual budgetary allocations ranging between 8 and 11% of the total budgets of the colleges and, in all cases, the libraries spent over 60% of the materials budget on monographs and between 10 and 40% on printed journals. The college librarians were not encouraged to budget and they appeared ill-equipped to allocate materials funds. The study concludes that the college authorities and the Department of Teacher Training and Development need to provide support for the college librarians to enable them improve on their allocation activities. Library schools also have a major role to play in equipping librarians with skills of managing materials budgets.