Challenges facing collection development initiatives in academic libraries in Malawi: the case of selected academic libraries

This study critically investigated challenges that academic libraries in Malawi experience, in the request to enhance and sustain systematic collection development. Five purposively selected institutions participated in this study. Data for this study was collected through a combination of method including face-to-face interviews, self administered questionnaires and observations. The population sample comprised library staff, teaching staff and students. Key findings from the study revealed that CD efforts in academic libraries in Malawi are constrained by funding; staffing shortages; lack of training opportunities for staff; weak IT infrastructure; lack of policies to guide collection development; poor communication between library staff, stakeholders and top management. Findings further revealed that political interference and donor dependency are also important factors. Similarly, findings revealed that top college and university management seem to have an upper hand in CD decision making because they determine how much funding is allocated to the library for CD activities. A major recommendation to this study is that since most of the problems in academic libraries are aggravated by lack of funding, libraries should press parent institutions to consistently allocate adequate funding for CD activities in order to meet user information needs, and this, in turn, yields high quality education. Last but not least, the study also recommends areas for future research.