All is set for eighth annual Maktaba Awards
From left: Mrs Nasra Gathoni, Mr Peter Gatiti, and Mrs Rosemary Thiong'o at the Maktaba Awards (Library of the Year Awards) on 19th September 2014 at the Louis Leakey Auditorium of the National Museums of Kenya. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The library awards is an initiative of the Goethe Institute in cooperation with the Kenyan Library Association and the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, with financial support from the Ministry of Culture.
- The libraries that are competing had to have declared their interest by July 20, 2017.
- The winners of each category and the overall winner - "Library of the Year" - are chosen by an independent jury on the grounds of detailed applications and site visits.
The eighth annual Maktaba Awards gala night will be happening on Friday night, September 22, at Nairobi National Museum.
The library awards is an initiative of the Goethe Institute in cooperation with the Kenyan Library Association and the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, with financial support from the Ministry of Culture.
Other project partners such as World Reader, Book Aid International and eKitabu give donations (books, computers, eReaders) as prizes for the winners.
PROMOTING QUALITY LIBRARY SERVICES
The awards aim to strengthen libraries in their important role for Kenyan society to provide reading material and space, as well as motivating the libraries through competition for quality service.
The libraries that are competing had to have declared their interest by July 20, 2017.
The following criteria are decisive for the award:
• services for the community such as public events or programmes to promote reading;
• current and up-to-date media inventory;
• consideration for the cultural diversity of the Kenyan society;
• dealing with the basic questions of Kenyan society;
• use of modern technologies in information services.
The libraries compete in the categories of: large public libraries, small public libraries, special libraries, university libraries and school libraries.
The winners of each category and the overall winner - "Library of the Year" - are chosen by an independent jury on the grounds of detailed applications and site visits. The price is to be used for a measure in favour of the acknowledged library.
Winners from last year included Kenya National Library Buruburu as best public library, and Kenyatta University Post Modern Library getting best academic library awards.
