The digital libraries in the city of Quelimane, in the central province of Zambézia, which were inaugurated in 2023 as a way of making it easier for readers to seek out more knowledge, have been without internet for at least five months now.

According to a Diário da ZambéziaAccording to the director of the Quelimane Municipal Library, one of the places where digital has been installed, this is due to the lack of financial conditions to provide the internet, since the installation of these ventures is the result of a non-profit initiative.

"We've been without internet since May," Janota Manuel admitted, stressing that "we've only had internet for a year and without partners there's no way of sustaining it."

In the same publication, the director of the Quelimane Municipal Library said that the most affected by this situation are the readers, because "they can't do research because the computers don't have the internet to do it".

"It's reduced the flow because of that ̋, assumed the source, adding that they have created book-sharing groups, but still face difficulties because of the costs.

As with the Quelimane Municipal Library, the same publication said that this problem is also being experienced in the Sangariveira and Cololo libraries.

The digital libraries in Zambézia province were installed in May 2023, with the aim of providing digital literacy to citizens living in areas with few resources for access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

The "Digital Libraries" project is a government initiative, implemented through the National Communications Institute of Mozambique (INCM), which consists of setting up infrastructures and providing platforms that contribute to digital inclusion in all the country's provincial capitals, promoting the development of education and digital literacy in the country.

(Photo DR)