Helen Kay Raseroka

Dr Helen Kay Raseroka is currently a member of the Board of trustees of INASP, the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (http://www.inasp.info). She is a citizen of Botswana and has worked in the library and information service sector for over two decades. She contributed to the development of the University of Botswana Library and Information Services through the leadership position assumed in 1981.
She has contributed to the library and information services profession in various portfolios such as being the founding member of the Botswana Library Association; regionally, the founding chairperson of the Standing Conference of National and University Librarians of East Central and Southern Africa.
She was elected the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) www.ifla.org President, the first candidate from Africa, from 2003- 2005.
She has also served as a Board Member of CODE Canada, an international literacy for children that works with partners in the developing world to support a sustainable literate environment. She served as a member of the NOMA Award for African Publishing, the body that selected the best work by an African author and produced by an African Publisher.She founded the Botswana Children’s Information Trust and has devoted more than thirty five years to promoting the importance of oral information and learning systems in indigenous communities. In recognition of her contributions, she was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Laws of the University of Alberta (Canada) on 7 June 2010.
She retired from her position as Director of Library and Information Services at the University of Botswana in 2010.
Kay is currently a member of a multidisciplinary research Team working in the consultancy services for the formulation of the National Indigenous Knowledge Systems Policy for the Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology, Botswana.
She consults on library and information management policy formulation and development of Library Associations and advocacy through the IFLA Program on Building Strong Library Associations.
She is currently engaged with the Botswana Substance Abuse Network as the chair of a civil society group concerned with dissemination of information and raising awareness on issues around substance abuse and prevention.