Jane Meyers Email and Phone Number

Jane Meyers is a professional librarian with over 40 years’ experience working and living in Africa, consulting, teaching and working with scores of libraries throughout the continent and participating in the formulation of National Information Policies of Malawi and Zambia. She developed a network of research libraries for Malawi’s Ministry of Agriculture and pioneered African CD-ROM applications in the 1980s. She was instrumental in establishing the first professional librarians positions in Malawi’s civil service and has promoted special librarianship in Africa, consulting for FAO, Unicef and other international agencies. Her professional career began at the U.S. National Agricultural Library (NAL), then with Costabile Associates on over 20 projects at the US Agency for International Development. She subsequently developed agricultural information services at the World Bank which led to eventual establishment of what is now the World Bank Library. Ten years after leaving Malawi Jane returned to neighboring Zambia. There, working on projects for the American Library and for Johns Hopkins’ POPLINE, she became increasingly involved with services to street children at Fountain of Hope, a drop-in shelter in Lusaka. She established a reading program, served on the Board, raised funds, and created a library for the children, among many contributions. On her return to the U.S. in 2001 she developed the concept, approach and organization of the Lubuto Library Project, based on the success and impact her work with street children.Most of Jane’s professional career prior to establishing Lubuto focused on libraries and information in international agriculture, at the World Bank, NAL, USAID and as a consultant to many international organizations. During seven years living in southern Africa, as well as on numerous other African trips, she spoke to many library groups in Malawi, Zambia and other African countries and has visited scores of libraries throughout the continent.