Zimbabwean School Libraries as Social Spaces

Empowering Students with Life-wide Skills in the New Millennium

Abstract

The success of students in the future is dependent upon the foundation laid down during years spent at school. Libraries play a critical role in shaping the future of students by preparing them for life beyond the school. The school library as a key component of the school curriculum has great potential to shape students through providing opportunities for independent learning. The paper will seek to find out the strategies that school libraries employ to develop student’s interpersonal skills in the advent of ICT’s. It will also examine the role of school libraries in promoting interpersonal skills development amongst students to promote responsible behaviour or citizenship. The paper will explore the extent to which school libraries can utilize technology to enhance interpersonal communication thus enhancing social inclusion. The writer will use a phenomenological paradigm to highlight the challenges and opportunities facing school libraries in urban Harare to provide effective library services to students so that they can be adequately prepared for the dynamic technology driven life premised on such skills like information literacy.