THE NO. 1 LADIES’ LIBRARY CONSULTANCY

Daphne Burger
Lexinfo CC
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Lexinfo CC has provided library and information services to the legal and other professions since its inception as a close corporation in 1990, starting out from small beginnings as a single law librarian at a Pretoria firm of attorneys (two mornings a week) from August 1985. With the experience built up over 25 years, it was gratifying to be asked to provide consultancy services north of our borders as a judicial library is being built in Gaborone, Botswana, for a new Court of Appeal and High Court in that city.

Knowledge of Botswana was at the time of the first exploratory visit in December 2010 limited to Mma Precious Ramotswe and her No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, but has grown quickly as we have visited both Gaborone and Lobatse (the seat of one of the High Courts) on a number of occasions. The brief of the consultancy is to advise on all matters pertaining to the building, stocking and staffing of the new library. This has necessitated becoming familiar with everything from library management systems to shelving, reprographic devices, security systems, furniture and stationery so that appropriate items/systems can be evaluated and the best value recommended for purchase.

A large part of the preliminary work has naturally been the compilation of a recommended stock list together with possible suppliers and prices. The law of Botswana is influenced by both Roman-Dutch and English law, so a variety of texts must be available for the judges to consult. Adami Geldenhuys has brought to bear all her years of experience at our Library of Parliament and at Sonnenberg Hoffmann and Galombik (forerunner of Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs) in creating a comprehensive wishlist for the bookstock.

Some of the earlier series of statutes, law reports and gazettes will be very difficult to source, as not even the Attorney-General’s Library has a full set of everything. We are hoping that our law librarian colleagues may be of assistance in tracking down for purchase (possibly even donations) old, elusive material that would make the stock richly representative and complete. In particular we are looking for:

• Bechuanaland Protectorate; Orders in Council and proclamations, 30th June 1890-31st December 1929
• Bechuanaland Protectorate. Proclamations and government notices. 1930-1953
• Bechuanaland Protectorate. High Commissioners Proclamations and Notices. 1954-1958
• Bechuanaland Protectorate, Statute Law 1959-1965
• High Commission Territories Law Reports
• Old Botswana Government Gazettes
• Old editions of textbooks
• Out of print Botswana Legal Textbooks
• Out of print SA titles eg: Cooper’s Landlord and Tenant; Jacobs and Ehlers Law of attorneys’ costs and taxation thereof (and supplement); Scott’s Law of Cession; Cilliers’ Law of Costs / Security of costs; Boberg’s Law of Delict; and Jacobs Law of Expropriation.

At present we are finalising the lists for all the recommendations and then the procurement process must take its course. Once the library management system is up and running, the training of staff can begin in earnest. We are looking forward to visits over the next six months as the new building takes shape. From then it will be a race against time until the building is officially opened (presently expected to be in February 2012) when all must be shipshape and ready for the exciting task of being a well-resourced and effective judicial library. Lexinfo will continue to provide support over six months from the opening of the library, and so our involvement will be ongoing well into next year. The library consultancy field is certainly an exciting one, and the ladies (and one gentleman) of Lexinfo are very appreciative of this opportunity to pass on the wealth of experience they have gained over decades to the librarians in Botswana.

OSALL is the Organisation of South African Law Libraries. They aim to link and support everyone interested in law librarianship in South Africa;  to enhance and develop the practice of law librarianship and provide opportunities for professional growth for law librarians and training for those who work with legal materials in libraries or information centres in South Africa.