Inspiration for budding writers at book week

Mr Lawrence Njagi, who headed the KPA’s committee on the Book Fair, said that the two bodies decided to iron out their differences and work together.

“That explains why we decided to hold joint events like the media briefing so as not to confuse book lovers,” said Mr Njagi.

With things working out well with their partners, Prof Wanjala is confident that the stage is now set for them to push for the implementation of a national book policy.

‘‘For a long time now, we have only talked about the need for a book policy, but nothing has come out of it,” he said. “It is high time we channelled our collective energies into ensuring that this noble goal is achieved.”

He said the policy would address issues like the adoption of a reading culture.

Reading culture

“We need to entrench a reading culture among our people, so that we do not just concentrate on academic reading at the expense of leisure reading,” said Prof Wanjala.

Already NBDCK is making efforts to promote a reading culture in the country. “Through the Children’s Reading Tents (CRT) we target children from disadvantaged parts of the country, by donating books which they use to form libraries,” said Mrs Odondi.

This year schools in Mwingi, Kitui and Kibera in Nairobi benefited from the CRT project. Most of the books used in the project have been donated by publishers.