Libraries and Peacebuilding The role of public libraries in post-conflict societies: a systematic review

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the roles of libraries in post- conflict societies. It analyses the roles that public libraries have taken on to help re-build post- conflict societies after the 1980s. This paper systematically categorises the collected information in a theoretical framework, which combines John Paul Lederach’s theories of peacebuilding, and Peter Lor’s concept of a scale of library roles in peacebuilding. Searches were carried out in seven different databases. 48 papers were identified, of which only 22 fit the initial criteria and only 16 fit the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) criteria. These articles show that there are roughly nine roles libraries take on in post-conflict societies, all of which can be directly or indirectly implemented for peacebuilding. The results show that there is a difference between countries and continents in their approach to, and their levels of interest in, peacebuilding. Some articles demonstrate that tensions and conflicts escalate when communities do not have access to libraries or information. On the whole, there is insufficient research measuring the impact of libraries that have taken on a direct role in peacebuilding. Theoretically, however, many of the core library roles fulfil the necessary requirements for successful peacebuilding implementation approaches, yet have been completely overlooked in the peacebuilding field.