Click Here & Upgrade PDF Complete Expanded Features Unlimited Pages Documents Postal and Courier Services Postal and Courier Services are mainly provided by ZAMPOST. The Corporation covers the country through a network of about 116 Post Offices, 64 Sub-Post Offices and 55 Postal Agencies. A large percentage of the 72 districts have an operational post office. In addition, there are private courier services, which are concentrated along the Livingstone-Copperbelt corridor for delivery of parcels. However, some private courier operators now service provincial centres as well. Telecentres There are cafés and business bureaus offering telephone, Email/Internet access in major urban centres and a few in rural towns. Currently, there are about 300 licensed telecenters across the country by 2004 against 108 in the year 2000. However, a larger percentage is along the line of rail. This is mainly due to the relatively good telecommunication infrastructure, low capital and operation costs coupled with the high number of potential customers. Library Services The Ministry of Education operates the largest number of public libraries through the Zambia Library Service. Currently, there are 6 major public libraries across the country covering at least six of the nine provincial centres. The Copperbelt University, Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation and UNZA have adequate libraries facilities in comparison to other libraries across the country. Various other private libraries also exist in schools and colleges offering opportunities for access to information. Local authorities mainly run community libraries as part of the public service though most of them need urgent attention. In general, public libraries are in a dilapidated state, normally equipped with outdated reading materials and are urban centred in most cases. Most of the materials are imported with little local content and knowledge resources. The process of equipping public libraries managed by the Zambia Library Service with ICT tools including Internet connectivity has started. However, the installed capacity needs to be increased in terms of hardware and Internet bandwidth. The main library at UNZA has reached advanced levels in integrating ICTs as part of the services to the university community and the general public. On the other hand, the national Archives is one source of political, social and economic information, particularly historical perspectives about Zambia which forms good background on the geo-political development agenda of the country. Access to such information by the public is very limited both in physical and electronic forms. 4