Fellowship programmes have become one of the most effective ways institutions invest in the next generation of leaders. They combine learning, mentorship, and practical experience that equip participants with the skills, exposure, and network they need to lead change in their fields. Across the world, these programmes have become career accelerators, advanced research, and great innovations. Through the Young African Library Leaders Fellowship (YALLF), Library Aid Africa is doing the same for young library professionals in Africa.

In 2025, Library Aid Africa, as part of the Impact Fellowship Network (IFN) Impact Study, conducted impact research on the Young African Library Leaders Fellowship (YALLF).

Since launching in 2020, YALLF has built the leadership capacity of library professionals to meet the literacy and development needs of their communities, growing to 100 alumni across 19 African countries. The impact research created awareness about YALLF and the research itself while also gathering the perspectives of library stakeholders in library associations, library schools, and national libraries across Africa through a series of consultative sessions. These engagements also provided information into the state of libraries, the future of librarianship and strategies for strengthening the profession from the perspectives of library leaders across Africa as documented here.

The focus of the research which seeks to investigate the extent to which the different strategies by YALLF supports YALLF alumni in contributing to chage at different levels of society led us to evaluate the impact of YALLF where we connected with alumni, their library supervisors, their library users, and in-country library stakeholders to understand the progress and impact of the YALLF program on alumni as individuals, on their institutions and on their contribution to the national library ecosystem.

Throughout this process, Library Aid Africa reconnected with 61 YALLF alumni across 17 countries and 79 library users. We also engaged 9 library institutions through consultative sessions, surveys, and interviews across West, East, Southern, and North Africa. YALLF facilitators and the programme team were actively involved throughout the research process, while five Researchers-in-Residence were selected to support data collection from the YALLF alumni community as part of the research team.

This process revealed that YALLF is contributing significantly to the career advancement and community development of African communities, with alumni participating actively at the national level in the library space.

The YALLF Impact Research also examined the fellowship's design, content, and strategies from the lens of alumni, in-country library stakeholders, and the programme team. We have recommendations and learnings that will shape future cohorts of YALLF.

Read the full report of the YALLF Impact Research here: YALLF Impact Research 2026

Alongside the full report, the YALLF Impact Dashboard is a brief overview of key findings and recommendations that can inform library policy, fellowship design and research use by librarians, researchers, and development practitioners.

Read the full IFN Impact Study Report 2026 here: IFN Impact Study Report 2026.

The YALLF Impact Research is a part of the global study on fellowship programmes by the Impact Fellowship Network (IFN) led by IREX and sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as part of the IFN Impact Study 2026. The study aims to deepen our understanding of fellowship impact while building a supportive community of practice.