Librarians' Christian Fellowship

The Committee for Overseas Library Development was set up in 1991 with the aim of providing help and support to theological college libraries in cooperation with other Christian organisations. COLD has been involved in developing training courses in Africa with two other organisations:

• The Commission for International Library Assistance (CILA), a group similar to COLD and part of the Association of Christian Librarians.
• The Accrediting Council for Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA).

One member, Lynne Harris, spent the summers of 1996 and 1997 training library staff at a theological college in Nigeria. Gordon Harris and Michael Gale ran courses there during the summer of 2001.

In more recent years the LCF has been involved in:

• collecting money to purchase books
• making donations to assist in payments for cataloguing projects
• informing members of overseas projects via articles in LCF publications
• providing advice to Librarians overseas.

If you would be available to help a library overseas, let us know. Visits may last a few weeks, months or years, and could be during annual holidays, a break between jobs, or following retirement.

Please contact the LCF Overseas Secretary if you would like to help, or are seeking advice or information.

Healthlink Worldwide has developed a useful manual on how to set up a resource centre which is particularly relevant to developing countries. More information can be found on the Healthlink website. The manual can be ordered or downloaded in pdf format here.