YALLF 2022 Spotlight: Albertina Shihawa

Albertina Shihawa, an assistant librarian at a community library in Windhoek, Namibia, joined the 2022 Young African Library Leaders Fellowship with a clear goal: to expand her professional network and deepen her understanding of library service delivery.

The fellowship gave her exactly that and more. Albertina gained advanced knowledge in project development and management, learning how to identify community needs, set measurable targets, and evaluate progress through structured quarterly reviews. A significant part of her experience focused on youth engagement, helping her see young people as essential partners in the library's mission rather than just beneficiaries of its services.

She also valued the fellowship as a space for collaborative learning, where exchanging ideas with other young African librarians opened new possibilities for her daily work. Albertina's story is a reminder that effective library leadership is rooted in structure, discipline, and a genuine commitment to the communities libraries serve.