Academic libraries and the actualisation of Sustainable Development Goals two, three and thirteen

Abstract

This paper reports on academic libraries’ Community Engagement (CE) initiatives in South Africa and outline their potential to contribute to the actualisation of three Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 2, 3 and 13). The research approach adopted was qualitative using online interviews with 20 heads of libraries in South Africa and eight online focus group discussions with library staff as data collection methods. It was found that South African academic libraries’ CE initiatives can be successfully mapped out against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The results showed that through CE, academic libraries in South Africa play a role in addressing hunger, improving health and well-being and contributing to climate action, among other SDGs. CE, therefore, can play a role in SDGs that fall outside of academic libraries’ traditional teaching, learning and research support role. These results will serve as a call for academic libraries to consider participating in CE in order to contribute to development areas that they do not normally contribute to directly. This study provides unique insights on the contribution of academic libraries to SDGs. As a recommendation, academic libraries should consider mapping their CE initiatives against the SDGs.