MILAN

The Role of the Rural Public Library in Community Development and Empowerment It is believed that a rural library has an advantage over other communication channels such as media and printed materials in that it can deliver highly personalized services to the village people by: • helping the rural children and adults to maintain knowledge gained from their education; • helping a rural community to understand the social, political and economic endeavours of the country and nation building efforts; • helping in the development of wholesome family life, providing materials about social, economic and health care development; and • inspiring members of the community to read, to use books, information and knowledge access,and to enjoy all materials in the library for education and recreation. The public library is where place and possibility meet. Stuart Dybek