Dean’s Note: A global library collaboration

Many universities establish partnerships with international universities for the purpose of collaboration on research and academic programs. The University of Cincinnati has established agreements with over 10 international universities, located on the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa. Given the nature of these agreements, there is not often engagement between the academic libraries, despite the unusually collaborative nature of our profession. Here at UC, the only strategic partnership that engaged our libraries previously was that with Chongqing University, where our librarians supported students participating in a joint co-op between the universities.  

To kick off this partnership, Mac-Anthony extended an invitation to me to reciprocate by visiting the University of Cape Coast Library System in Ghana the following year. So, this past July, I made my first visit to the continent of Africa on a 10-day visit to learn more about our international partner and academic libraries in the country of Ghana. The purpose of the trip was to identify shared challenges and opportunities, as well as to build relationships as a foundation for future collaboration. 

While I had planned to travel with one of my leaders, an unexpected conflict resulted in my inviting my partner, Jason, to join me. A few long flights took us to Accra, the capital city of Ghana, where a team from the University of Ghana welcomed us. Before leaving Accra for the city of Cape Coast, the team took us to several significant sites, including the Balme Library at the University of Ghana. From there, we took an extraordinary six-hour drive through the countryside to the town of Cape Coast and checked into our lodging.  

At the University of Cape Coast (UCC), I had the opportunity to meet with leaders within the academic library system and tour library spaces. I was astonished by the size of the student population – the university has an enrollment of almost 75,000 students! And, while it was July when I visited, the academic year in Ghana continues without a break, so the campus and library spaces were full of students, many taking exams. Despite the size of the student population, librarians at the university provided one-on-one support to students through WhatsApp, a messenger services installed on cell phones.  

As a part of the visit, I made a presentation and had a follow up discussion with leaders at a symposium at the Sam Jonah Library. There are similarities in the structure of our organizations, having both a main academic library and numerous college and departmental libraries. The UCC Library System (UCCLS) is structured under leaders for collections, user services, IT and administration, which is not so different from ours. And the scope of UCC’s library services are similar to our own, including literature search support, information literacy instruction, and research support services, including scholarly communication.    

Where UCC Library Services differ significantly is their responsibility to serve as the student accessibility office for the entire campus. The team has dedicated staff that work with students who have disabilities, including visual impairments, to ensure they can access course content and succeed. A project UCCLS is working on is improving their Inclusive Learning Lab and related support services to ensure access and support for all students. 

After concluding our visit to UCC, the university team took me to visit the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology’s academic library in Kumasi. There, I had the opportunity to meet with the outgoing university librarian and visit the newly developed Knust Library Mall, which combined libraries of six different colleges with training rooms and IT services.  

At the conclusion of the visit, Mac-Anthony and I outlined next steps within our partnership framework, which included:  

• Sharing expertise via video calls on a series of topics (digital repositories, evidence synthesis programs, research data management services, maker spaces, records management programs and spaces) 

• Connecting library faculty across institutions for the purpose of fostering joint research projects 

• Willingness to host library faculty at one another’s institutions during academic leave/sabbaticals 

• Investigate the feasibility of reciprocal interlibrary loan services for digital content 

• Establish and pilot a mini-grant for library faculty and staff to travel to one another’s institutions 

We have already completed several video calls to share our expertise with one another and are excited to host one of Mac-Anthony’s leaders at UC in 2026.  

Of course, what would a visit to Ghana be without seeing the sights and learning more about the country? Near Cape Coast, our team from UCC took us on a hike through Kakum National Park near Cape Coast, where we walked on rope bridges through the rainforest canopy. They also accompanied us on a tour of Elmina Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is preserved to memorialize the dark history of the Atlantic slave trade. Finally, the team drove us to the Mole National Park, the largest wildlife refuge in the country, where we saw elephants, baboons, warthogs and spotted a rare wild leopard. 

The partnership with UCCLS aligns with our strategic goal to Expand Our Impact through external partnerships and collaborations. As our libraries execute on our plans, these projects will strengthen both of our academic libraries, and we’ll develop some new friendships along the way.