SCECSAL membership fees increased by 50 percent

As SCECSAL General Council adopts a decision to charge higher conference registration fees from non-member Associations

Mr. John Paul Anbu, SCECSAL General Council President (2016 -2018)
speaking at the opening session of the the 23rd SCECSAL conference

The SCECSAL General Council has increased the annual membership fees to be paid by member Associations from US$100 to US$150 per year with immediate effect and members are expected to pay the fees on a biennial basis to the SCECSAL Secretariat hosted by the Swaziland Library Association (SWALA).

The decision to increase the membership fees was taken at the Council’s Business Meeting on 24 April in Entebbe, Uganda.

The Council last increased the annual membership fee in 2010 in at its meeting Gaborone, Botswana. 
As at the end of the 23rd SCECSAL conference, on 27 April, SCECSAL member Associations in good standing were:

• Kenya Association of Library and Information Professionals
• Lesotho Library Association
• Library and Information Association of South Africa
• Library and Information Association of Zambia
• Malawi Library Association
• Namibia Information Workers Associations
• Swaziland Library Association
• Tanzania Library Association
• Uganda Library and Information Association

At the same meeting, the Council also adopted a decision to charge participants at future SCECSAL conferences who are not members of national library (information) associations in the SCECSAL countries slightly higher registration fees.

Delegates to the 23rd SCECSAL conference at the registration desk

In the early years of SCECSAL, participation in SCECSAL conferences was by virtual of one being a member of the national library (information) association and non-members paid higher conference registration fees.

This arrangement was meant to help build the membership of national library (information) associations and to ensure that individual library and information professionals do not prioritise participating in SCECSAL conferences at the expense of the activities of the national association.

Over the years, some SCECSAL member Associations hosting SCECSAL conference have not adhered to this arrangement resulting in some cases whereby some countries have seen a high number of library and information professionals at SCECSAL conferences who rarely participate in activities of their national library (information) association.