Academic literature on the topic 'Demography libraries'

Purpose This study explored spatial usage of a public library based on activity logs produced by real users. The purpose of this paper is to provide preliminary data for decision-making when establishing the library operation policy. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the goal, the author collected a variety of data including 274,242 seat reservations logs, 3,361,284 collection usage logs, and 96,098 user information for the four years in which the National Library of Korea, Sejong actually operated. The crawled data were analyzed statistically in terms of demography, month, day of week, time of day and room by room. The author conducted additional in-depth analysis according to the external factors such as weather or social demographic environment. Finally, the author discussed several issues and verified feasibility of the proposals to support decision-making in operating a library in conclusion with a secondary librarian interview. Findings The usage rate in all the spaces of the National Library of Korea, Sejong, has been increasing since its opening, and, in particular, the usage rate increases sharply in January, February, July and August. In addition, the usage rate during weekends was higher than that during weekdays, and all the four spaces had a high usage rate during the afternoon. These results seem to be related to weather, users’ life pattern, users’ age, and position of PCs and seats. Based on the circulation logs analysis of children’s collections, users in their 10s and 40s showed the same space usage pattern. Originality/value This study has significance in that it attempted to analyze logs produced by real users during the actual library operation period, which has not been frequently attempted in the previous studies on libraries. The findings will be provided as basic data to support decision-making for efficient operation of libraries.

Public schools and public libraries often receive challenges—suppression or removal requests—to particular books, which can lead the book being banned. Research has examined challenges to books with multicultural themes and individuals, noted that authors of color are disproportionally targeted, and recognized the remarkable number of challenges to books deemed to be classic. This qualitative content analysis research utilized both with inductive and deductive elements—open coding and axial coding—to examine challenged books intended for primary elementary students. The theoretical framework blended critical multiculturalism, gay and lesbian identity, and radical politics in children’s literature. Findings included patterns based on era, frequency and location of challenge, demography of challenger, and oft-challenged themes, specifically sexuality (sexual reproduction and diverse sexualities), inappropriate humor, danger, death, racial and religious diversity, mysticism and wizardry, racially or culturally insensitive elements, concerning interpersonal dynamics, and evolution. Meaning is extracted for teachers, librarians, administrators, and researchers.

Objective – To assess how the age, gender, and race characteristics of library users affect their perceptions of the approachability of reference librarians with similar or different demographic characteristics. Design – Image rating survey. Setting – Large, three-campus university system in the United States. Subjects – There were 449 students, staff, and faculty of different ages, gender, and race. Methods – In an online survey respondents were presented with images of hypothetical librarians and asked to evaluate their approachability, using a scale from 1 to 10. The images showed librarians with neutral emotional expressions against a standardized, neutral background. The librarians’ age, gender, and race were systematically varied. Only White, African American, and Asian American librarians were shown. Afterwards respondents were asked to identify their own age, gender, race, and status. Main Results – Respondents perceived female librarians as more approachable than male librarians, maybe due to expectations caused by the female librarian stereotype. They found librarians of their own age group more approachable. African American respondents scored African American librarians as more approachable, whereas Whites expressed no significant variation when rating the approachability of librarians of different races. Thus, African Americans demonstrated strong in-group bias but Whites manifested colour blindness – possibly a strategy to avoid the appearance of racial bias. Asian Americans rated African American librarians lower than White librarians. Conclusion – This study demonstrates that visible demographic characteristics matter in people’s first impressions of librarians. Findings confirm that diversity initiatives are needed in academic libraries to ensure that all users feel welcome and are encouraged to approach librarians. Regarding gender, programs that deflate the female librarian stereotype may help improve the approachability image of male librarians. Academic libraries should staff the reference desk with individuals covering a wide range of ages, including college-aged interns, whom traditional age students find most approachable. Libraries should also build a racially diverse staff to meet the needs of a racially diverse user population. Since first impressions have lasting effects on the development of social relationships, structural diversity should be a priority for libraries’ diversity programs.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to carry out the demographic evaluation and analysis of the entrepreneurial orientation of librarians in Iranian public libraries using the Lumpkin and Dess model. Design/methodology/approach In this study, a structured questionnaire of entrepreneurial orientation was used. The research population consisted of 5,000 librarians of Iranian public libraries who were selected using Krejcie and Morgan table (95% confidence level and p-value of 5%) and stratified the random sampling method. A total of 365 individuals were selected as the study sample. Data were analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics (frequency, percent, mean, standard deviation and standard error mean) as well as inferential statistics (Pearson correlation, one-sample t-test, independent samples t-test and ANOVA. Findings The results showed that the mean level of entrepreneurial orientation of librarians was 2.92 with an average level (µ = 3). Librarians were at an average level (µ = 3) in terms of components of innovativeness (2.98), risk-taking (2.93) and proactiveness (3.02). The status of the autonomy component (2.53) was at an undesirable level (3 < µ), and only the competitive aggressiveness status (3.12) was at the desirable level (3 < µ). The analysis of the librarian’s entrepreneurial orientation based on demographic characteristics indicated that the male librarian’s entrepreneurial orientation was higher than the female librarian’s (p-value = 0.039). Meantime, librarians with library and information science degrees have less entrepreneurial orientation than the librarians with other (non-librarian and information science) degrees (p-value = 0.01). Also, the higher the librarian’s degree, the lower their entrepreneurial orientation will be (p-value = 0.000). In addition, there was no significant relationship between librarians’ age (p-value = 0.14), marital status (p-value = 0.15) or work experience (p-value = 0.388) and their entrepreneurial orientation. Practical implications Entrepreneurial orientation is one of the significant concepts in entrepreneurship of organizations. Accordingly, studying the concept of entrepreneurial orientation and formulating an appropriate strategy is of great importance in improving the performance of libraries because libraries can be more useful and appealing to library members by enhancing the entrepreneurial orientation of librarians, delivering new, unique and tailor-made services to users’ needs. Originality/value Not much research has been carried out on entrepreneurship in library and information sciences. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the entrepreneurial orientation of librarians based on their demographic characteristics.

Objective – To examine the human resources environment in Canadian libraries in order to assess readiness to accommodate change and to identify opportunities for human resources planning. The “8Rs” of the study were defined as recruitment, retirement, retention, remuneration, repatriation, rejuvenation, re-accreditation, and restructuring. Design – This study was undertaken in three phases over nearly three years through the use a variety of methods including literature review, analyses of existing data (Statistics Canada and library school graduate data), telephone interviews (with senior library administrators), focus groups (with representatives from Canadian Association of Research Libraries, Canadian Urban Libraries Council and Alberta Association of Library Technicians), print surveys (library institutions) and web-based surveys (of professional librarians and paraprofessional library staff). Setting – Canadian libraries that are not component branches of a system, and that employ professional librarians. Subjects – Stage I: 17 senior library administrators participated in telephone interviews and three focus groups were conducted. Stage II: Surveyed library administrators representing institutions. A multi-stage stratified random sampling technique was used to ensure geographical representation from each of Canada’s provinces and territories. Full census participation was conducted for members of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries and the Canadian Urban Libraries Council. The print survey instrument was distributed to 1,357 subjects; 461 completed surveys were returned (response rate of 34% with results for the total sample accurate within plus or minus 3.8 per centage points, 95 times out of 100). Stage III: Surveyed professional librarians and paraprofessional staff. Multi-stage random sampling was used to ensure representation of library staff from all library sectors and sufficient sub-sample sizes. Of the 12,472 individuals in the sampling frame, 8,626 were notified of their selection to participate in the web-based survey. Corrections were made to e-mail addresses and 7,569 e-mail invitations with the survey URL were sent successfully. Of the 8,626 potential respondents, 3,148 librarians and paraprofessionals participated (for a response rate of 37%). A non-random Canada-wide call for participation was distributed to library staff who had not been represented in the sampling frame via the listservs of 56 library associations. This provided an additional 1,545 respondents and the total sample size increased to 4,693 for a confidence interval of plus or minus 1.2%, 95 times out of 100. The non-random data from the Canada-wide call was kept in a separate dataset file. Methods – Stage I began with a literature review and analysis of existing Statistics Canada and library school graduate data. Three focus group sessions with representatives from Canadian Association of Research Libraries, Canadian Urban Libraries Council and Alberta Association of Library Technicians were held and in-depth telephone interviews were conducted in May 2003 with 17 senior library administrators. Transcripts were thematically coded and summarised. The interview guide is available as Appendix E of the report. The results of Stage I were used to inform the design of the two survey instruments (Stages II and III). Stage II was a 17-page print survey informed by insights gathered in Stage I and was sent to library directors in the summer of 2003. The print mail-out of the institutional survey was sent to libraries that employed at least one librarian and were not a component branch of another system. A copy of the institutional survey is available as Appendix C of the report. Stage III was a web-based survey of librarians and paraprofessional library staff undertaken in the summer of 2004 using random and non-random sampling methods. This survey was developed from insights gathered in Stages I and II. A copy of the individual survey is available as Appendix D of the report. Main results – The analytical focus of the 275-page report is on the broad Canadian library sector. Data and analysis are provided by type of library, type of staff, and by geographical regions where sufficient response rates have allowed reporting. Although the role of the paraprofessional is examined in many sections of the report, the principal focus is on the professional librarian. Nine sections of the report present results, analysis and strategic human resource planning implications. Highlights for the broad Canadian library environment are briefly described below. Each section of the report provides further breakdown by library sector, type of position, career stage and other variables that provide significant insight. Workplace Demographic Characteristics (Section C) This section provides demographic information about those in supervisory or management roles (62% of librarians), union density (67% of librarians and 79% of paraprofessional staff), longevity in career, part-time employment, and gender, along with other characteristics. Results conclude that visible minorities and Aboriginal staff are under-represented across all types of libraries and that few libraries recognise the credentials of immigrant librarians. Recruitment to the Profession and to the Organization (Section D) Positive exposure to libraries and librarians is the best predictor of librarianship as a career choice and there were no significant differences in the original motivations for choosing the professional librarian career between new professionals and senior librarians. In response to the open-ended question about motivation for choosing librarianship, none of the librarian respondents (n=1,823) indicated leadership, managing libraries or supervising others as their reason (p. 52). Many respondents indicated reasons for choosing the profession that are in alignment with the values of librarianship, but few indicated reasons that reflect the real nature of the librarians’ role. The average age of new librarian recruits is 37 (with little variation between sectors). Thirty per cent of paraprofessionals are interested in pursuing an MLIS degree; 29 per cent are not interested because they are satisfied with their current role. The major barriers for paraprofessionals wishing to pursue the MLIS degree are inadequate or unrecognised credentials (21% - although 45% of paraprofessionals have an undergraduate degree), geographic distance (33%), lack of money (48%), and lack of time (49%). Eighty per cent of libraries report that the major barrier to recruiting is budget constraints; other barriers include small size of library (60%), organizational hiring freeze (54%), inadequate librarian pay (54%), geographic location (52%), inadequate pool of qualified candidates (51%), and inadequate pool of interested candidates (50%). The ten most important and difficult-to-fill competencies when recruiting varied significantly for each sector: leadership potential, ability to respond flexibly to change, and ability to handle high-volume workload were the three highest-ranked competencies across all libraries. Retirement (Section E) Canadian libraries experienced librarian retirements (11% of total current workforce) and paraprofessional retirements (7% of total current workforce) between 1997 and 2002. During this period, 79 per cent of librarians retired before age 65. Forty per cent of librarians over age 50 estimate that they will retire between 55 and 60. Only 9 per cent of libraries have a succession plan. Staff Retention: Inter- and Intra-organizational Mobility (Section F) Librarians are satisfied with their work and stay in their organization because they like the job (85%), co-workers (84%), and workplace (79%). Seventy-seven per cent of senior librarians and 87% of senior paraprofessionals have been at their current library for more than 10 years. Sixty-nine per cent of librarians believe they are qualified to move to higher level positions, but 69% of institutions state that limited librarian turnover contributes to a lack of promotional opportunities. Education (Section G) Seventy-five per cent library administrators agree that MLIS programs equip graduates with needed competencies, but 58% recommended that the programs provide more management, business and leadership training. Seventy-six per cent of administrators believe that they have little or no input into curriculum content of MLIS programs. Overall evaluation of MLIS education by recent librarian entrants is not positive. Only forty-four per cent indicated that the program provided a realistic depiction of the job, while only 36% said the program provided a realistic expectation of work in their library sector. Recent librarian entrants (67%) were satisfied with the overall quality of their MLIS program, but few indicated that their program provided them with the necessary management skills (25%), leadership skills (20%), or business skills (12%) for their position. Recent library technician entrants were more satisfied (81%) with their programs’ success in providing general skills (87%), and providing a realistic depiction of the job (72%). Continuing Education (Section H) New librarians (72%) need a significant amount of ongoing training, but only 56% believe that their institution provides sufficient training opportunities. Only 30% of libraries have a routine method for determining training needs of librarians and fewer (13 %) have an evaluation method for training outcomes. In most cases, about half of those who received training reported that it improved their job performance. Quality of Work and Job Satisfaction (Section I) Librarians and paraprofessionals are satisfied with their jobs (79% for each) and librarians (72%) and paraprofessionals (61%) agree that their salary is fair. Most libraries offer a wide range of benefits to their employees, including life insurance (95%), pension plan (92%), and medical benefits (88%). Librarians (80%) and paraprofessionals (70%) are satisfied with their benefits. Although a low percentage of librarians agreed that they have little job stress (24%) and only 39% found their workload to be manageable, 62% of librarians agree that their work allows work, family and personal life balance. The statistics are slightly more positive for paraprofessionals. There is a gap between the desire to be treated with respect (98% for all workers) and the perception that respect is conveyed (77% of librarians and 75% of paraprofessionals). A similar gap exists between desire to be involved in decision-making and actual involvement. The two most important factors for job satisfaction for all library workers are respectful treatment and a job that allows them to learn new skills and grow. Numerical Librarian Demand-Supply Match (Section J) Libraries hired more librarians than they lost in 2002, for a net three per cent increase. Many library administrators believe that there will be a five-year increased demand for librarians (77%) and paraprofessionals (81%). The short-term supply (next 5 years) of new librarians to replace departures due to retirements is predicted to have the capacity to fill 98 per cent of the current librarian positions; the capacity to replace library technicians is 99 per cent. The long-term supply (next 10 years) of new librarians to replace departures due to retirements is predicted to have the capacity to fill 89 per cent of the current librarian positions; the capacity to fill technician positions is identical. These predictions are based on no growth in the number of positions in the future. Match Between Organizational Job Function Demand and Individual Staff Supply of Skills, Abilities, Talents, Interests (Section K) Libraries report that increased use of information technologies (87%) and re-engineering (61%) have contributed the greatest change in the roles of librarians. Libraries report that more librarians have been required to perform a wider variety of tasks in the past five years (93%) and that this trend will continue over the coming five years (94%). A high percentage of libraries (86%) reported that over the past five years librarians have been expected to perform more management functions and 56% of mid-career and senior librarians believed this had occurred. Libraries (88%) believe that this trend will continue; only 44% of librarians indicate interest in performing management functions. Mid-career and senior librarians report that job stress has increased over five years ago. Requirements to work harder (55%), perform more difficult tasks (56%), perform a wider variety of tasks (69%), and perform more managerial functions (56%) are the contributing factors. The performance of a wider variety of tasks and more difficult tasks was significantly related to the assessment by librarians that their jobs were more enjoyable, interesting, rewarding and challenging. Institutions (78%) reported the increased need for paraprofessionals to perform librarian tasks over the past five years and believe that this will continue (77%). Only 28% of paraprofessionals believe they are currently required to perform more librarian tasks. Conclusion – The need to confirm the existence and magnitude of the crisis that will be created by upcoming retirements in Canadian libraries was a primary motivator for this study. Conclusive results were obtained that should inform each sector and geographic area in Canada. The percentages of staff over the age of 55 (librarians: 25%; paraprofessionals: 21%) is much greater than that of the Canadian workforce (11%). If there is no growth in the number of positions needed, there will be no short-term supply-demand crisis to fill the gaps left by retirements. There will be a librarian and technician shortage in ten years (a shortfall of 11% of the current supply) and a more significant crisis if the predicted growth in staffing is factored in. Recruitment to the librarian and technician professions is critical and the paraprofessional staff may be a potential pool of future MLIS candidates if the accessibility issues associated with the programs are addressed. Only nine per cent of organizations have a succession plan in place. There is great opportunity for the development of strategic solutions. In response to the open-ended question about motivation for choosing librarianship, no respondent indicated leadership, managing libraries or supervising others as their reason. This is of concern when 62% of librarians today work in a managerial role. Management and leadership skills are a significant concern for recent graduates, administrators, and librarians, with all indicating that the workplace needs are greater than the current preparedness. More cooperation with MLIS programs and professional associations is essential to ensure that leadership and management skill development are supported through the curricula and continuing education planning. Organizations must also develop and support a culture where leadership is encouraged and expected, and recognised. There is a need for further development of continuing education opportunities, and training needs assessment and outcome assessment programs may be beneficial. Paraprofessionals and new librarians are less satisfied with the workplace training opportunities available to them than librarians in later stages of their careers. Role change will continue in libraries and planning will be essential to ensure that restructuring reflects the competencies that will be needed in the new mix. Workload and job stress appear to be rising and will require careful monitoring. There may be opportunity to define roles for “other” professionals in libraries. Library staff have a tendency to stay in their institution for much of their career, making decisions in the recruitment and hiring processes of critical importance. Loss of employees due to turnover is not a problem for most libraries, but the lack of turnover has affected the promotional opportunities for those who desire upward mobility. An interesting recommendation was made that two or more libraries may realise both cost savings and benefits through the sharing of staffing resources. If issues surrounding credentials can be addressed, there may be a potential pool of future immigrant librarians.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to stress the importance of including visible minority librarians in the process of succession planning in academic libraries. In Canada visible minorities is the accepted term used for librarians of color. This paper identifies the challenges faced by these librarians in putting their names forward for administrative/leadership positions and proposes ideas on how to include these librarians in the succession planning processes so the leadership/administrative pool can also reflect the multicultural student demographics. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is an extensive study of the literature on succession planning and visible minority or ethnic librarians in the academic libraries. Literature shows that the senior administration of academic libraries does not reflect the population demographic it serves. Findings – This paper shows that visible minority librarians are not proactively found, recruited, retained. They are certainly not being included in succession planning processes. It suggests that academic libraries follow certain processes and strategies to include these librarians in their succession planning. Research limitations/implications – The paper focusses widely on North American visible minorities, but this information is applicable to any community with visible minorities. Practical implications – Libraries can start thinking about creating strategies for including visible minority libraries in their succession planning processes. Originality/value – This paper addresses a gap in the literature. Literature review showed that there are no papers that speak to the importance of including minority librarians in the succession planning processes.

The study explored the relationship between interpersonal relations and job satisfaction of librarians in the university libraries in Southern Nigeria. The study employed the ex-post-facto survey design with a population of 841 respondents consisting of all the librarians in federal, state and private university libraries that are located in Southern part of Nigeria. The study employed total enumeration (purposive) sampling technique to select eight hundred and forty-one (841) respondents for the study. The questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. Data were collected and analysed with descriptive statistics such as Mean and Standard Deviation (SD). The demographic data of the respondents were, however, analysed with frequency counts. One research question was answered and one research hypothesis tested in this study. Research questions 1 and hypothesis 1 were answered and tested using Pearson‟s Product Moment Correlation. The study found that, significant relationship existed between interpersonal relations and job satisfaction of librarians in the university libraries in Southern Nigeria. It was also found that interpersonal relations influenced job satisfaction among librarians. The study recommended that in order to boost job satisfaction of librarians in the university libraries, administrators of university libraries should create enabling environment that will motivate job satisfaction. Library administrators should ensure that they facilitate the sponsorship of librarians. In addition, management of university libraries in Southern Nigeria should endeavour to send staff on courses on interpersonal relations and workshops order to emhance their job satisfaction.

It is now commonplace to see surnames written in the Irish language in Ireland, yet there is no online resource for checking the standard spelling and grammar of Irish-language surnames. We propose a data structure for handling Irish-language surnames which comprises bilingual (Irish–English) clusters of surname forms. We present the first open, data-driven linguistic database of common Irish-language surnames, containing 664 surname clusters, and a method for deriving Irish-language inflected forms. Unlike other Irish surname dictionaries, our aim is not to list variants or explain origins, but rather to provide standard Irish-language surname forms via the web for use in the educational, cultural, and public spheres, as well as in the library and information sciences. The database can be queried via a web application, and the dataset is available to download under an open licence. The web application uses a comprehensive list of surname forms for query expansion. We envisage the database being applied to name authority control in Irish libraries to provide for bilingual access points.

Canada’s aging population is expected to have an impact on all public institutions; for public libraries, the emergence of a large, multi-generational user group of older adults challenges the current paradigm of services to seniors. This thesis examines a subset of this user group: baby boomer library patrons who are in a caring relationship with elders. It investigates how these patrons interact with the public library both for themselves, and as carers, in order to reveal library-related issues particular to this growing segment of the population. The study takes place within a conceptual framework derived from the ethic of care, and from emerging theories of library-as-place rooted in the fields of human geography and sociology. Using a qualitative instrumental case study method, long form interviews were conducted with respondents recruited through theoretical sampling extended by snowball sampling. While not generalizable, findings suggest that while these baby boomer respondents value their libraries deeply, there is potential to create services and practices more attuned to the needs of older adults who are in relationships with elders.

AbstractThe primary objective of our research was to produce a list, as complete as possible, of validated Polish supercentenarians, that is, persons for whom there is satisfactory evidence that they attained age 110. Surprisingly, considering Poland’s tumultuous history, a great many of the registration records of events occurring long ago have survived. The research, begun in 2012, was done in state archives, church archives, county offices, and libraries, and we report the methodology and results here. Research was also done to obtain a list of the many more persons for whom there is satisfactory evidence that they attained age 105, but that research is not near completion.Although according to official statistics there were 69 deaths of supercentenarians in Poland between 2004 and 2016, we could only validate 14 supercentenarian deaths – all females – ever occurring in Poland. In contrast, there are 25 validated supercentenarians who were born in Poland and last resided elsewhere.We also present official detailed statistics on the number of persons, living and deceased, who attained age 100, by single year of age, and estimate the mortality of persons who attained age 105, based on these data, for the portion of Poland with better-quality information, and compare it to the German experience. Of course, because these official data have not been validated, any inferences drawn from them are not conclusive.

The chapter considers the importance of demographic and socio-economic factors as well as cognitive skills to information seeking in a digital library environment. Demographic factors such as age and gender were considered. Younger adults were found to respond positively to the demands of information seeking in the digital environment while their older counterparts are still struggling to come to terms with the changes. In the same vein, studies have revealed that the value placed on technology by men and women varies. While men express high level of confidence in navigating the digital environment, women still suffer low self-confidence in doing same. Identified socio-economic factors that also constitute a barrier to information seeking in a digital environment include income level, level of education, non-availability of ICT infrastructures and epileptic power supply especially in Africa among others. Unwillingness to see one's needs as information needs, inability to articulate one's information needs, unawareness of information sources, low self-efficacy, poor search skills among others were identified as cognitive barriers to information seeking in the digital environment. Based on the findings of this chapter, the study recommends that for persons who are adjudged to be the older generation, it is imperative for them to acquire requisite ICT skills that will make it easier for them to navigate the digital environment. There is also a clarion call on African leaders to provide infrastructures that will enable ICT to thrive as the digital environment is fast replacing the hitherto traditional one.

To capsulize the future needs of library users, Management must consistently collect, analyze and diffuse information on trends that are internal and external affecting user behaviors and needs. Environmental Scanning is an organizational practice of screening external demographic, cultural, social, political, technological and legal trends in an effort to foresee and meet the needs of users in the future. This article examines environmental scanning, futures research, peripheral vision, and corporate/strategic foresight as tools for strategic planning, and assisting Managers in making better decisions concerning libraries, businesses and other organizations.

This chapter describes the present conditions of our aging society, with a particular focus on Japan as a typical example of such a society. In Japan, one in every four individuals is over 65 years of age, and one in eight is over 75 years of age. Further, based on this demographic change to an older population, this chapter discusses a new library service designed to enhance the lives of elderly citizens. The authors explore this new service from the viewpoint of lifelong learning, utilizing the results of recent government surveys and some case studies, such as those done at the Izumo City Hikawa Library and the Akita Prefectural Library in Japan. Although the elderly have been placed within the category of “disabled library patrons,” in recent years, it has become more common to consider the elderly, as a whole, as an individual service category. We should, in the near future, pay more attention to supporting elderly citizens at public libraries to engage them in the development and maintenance of their own communities.

Universities and other tertiary institutions in developing nations around the world are facing major challenges in meeting the demand for increasing access to higher education (HE): limitations imposed by inadequate funding, poor infrastructure and sometimes lack of political vision, added to the demographic explosion, make it almost impossible for some of these developing nations to ensure access to all to higher education solely through the conventional face-to-face mode. In this context, the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are providing an alternative to face-to-face education. Moreover, they have the potential to significantly increase access to quality higher education, improve management of tertiary institutions, increase access to educational resources through digital libraries and open education resources, foster collaboration and networking between universities, foster collaboration between the private sector and tertiary institutions, enhance sub-regional and regional integration and facilitate the mobility of teachers and graduates. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the African Virtual University (AVU), a Pan African Inter-Governmental Organization initially launched in Washington in 1997 as a World Bank project, works with a number of countries toward reaching the goal of increasing access to quality higher education and training programmes through the use of ICTs. The AVU has been the first-of-itskind in this regard to serve the Sub-Saharan African countries. In this chapter, the AVU’s twelve years experience in delivering and improving access to quality higher distance education throughout Africa will be discussed. The AVU has trained more than 40,000 students since its inception; this is the proof that it is possible to achieve democratization of tertiary education in Africa despite many challenges.