A VISIT TO BURUBURU POLICE CHILD PROTECTION UNIT

Thirst for knowledge and information is a drive that is felt in every sphere of life. People seek information and knowledge for various reasons.  It has the power to build and accomplish dreams; it transforms life from rugs to riches.  Unfortunately, some are less privileged in its access.

Knls Buruburu has initiated a programme in liaison with Buruburu Police Child Protection Unit.  The programme aims in providing a taste of knowledge and a sense of belonging to the children under such protection. The protection unit serves as a rescue centre for the abandoned and neglected children, street children and those mistreated at home.

Read more: A VISIT TO BURUBURU POLICE CHILD PROTECTION UNIT

Announcing the 2015 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship

Kenya National Library Service in Partnership with Certiport, Microsoft and GEMS Cambridge International School, Nairobi announce the 2015 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship.

This will be the first time Kenya will be participating in the Championship that has been on-going for the last thirteen years globally. Last year, the 2014 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship attracted more than 400,000 unique candidates from 130 countries who competed to demonstrate their mastery of Microsoft Office products. 123 student finalists participated in the final round of competition.

Read more: Announcing the 2015 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship

17th Nairobi International Book Fair - 24th to 28th September 2014

17th Nairobi International Book Fair - 24th to 28th September 2014

The Nairobi International Book Fair is an annual event that seeks to bring together all stakeholders in the book industry. The theme for this year’s event was “Catch the Reading Bug”. This year’s event started with the Book Match which was flagged off on 24th September 2014 at knls Nairobi Area Library at Community-Upper Hill. Knls Director, Mr Richard Atuti was given the honour of flagging of the book match from the Library to Sarit Centre. During the flagging off, he encouraged the participants to embrace reading as a mode of spending their leisure time and as a way to get to know our nation better.

knls participated in the 17th Nairobi International Trade Fair which took place from 24th to 28th September to 4th October 2014 by being one of the exhibitors at the Sarit Centre Exhibition Hall. Knls participated by showcasing some of the rare collection available through the National Library Division as well as creating awareness about the services offered through the department. These services include the Legal repository of all Kenyan publications, issuance of the International Standard Book Number (ISBN), International Standard Music Number (ISMN) and National Reference Services.

 

Read more: 17th Nairobi International Book Fair - 24th to 28th September 2014

Maktaba Awards 2014

Maktaba Awards is an annual event that aims to recognize excellence in the provision of library and information services in Kenya. The 6th Edition of the Maktaba Awards took place on 19th September 2014 at the Kenya National Museum, Louise Leakey Auditorium. The event was organized by the Goethe-Institut Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta Foundation and the Kenya Library Association. The award is modelled on the German Library of the Year Award which Goethe-Institut as the founder partner sought to introduce in the country.  The award hopes to inject more professionalism, creativity and innovation in the library sector within the country.

The award has several categories within which libraries are clustered due to their mode of establishment, purposes served, clients served and the mandate that they seek to fulfil. A total of 77 libraries participated in this year’s competition. A panel of judges went through the documents and did verifications where necessary before arriving at their final verdict. Winning libraries received trophies, cash prizes, book donations, equipment donations and recognition certificates.

This year’s event was sponsored by Ministry of Sports Culture and the Arts, Book Aid International, Worldreader, Goethe-Institut, Kenya Library Association, The Jomo Kenyatta Foundation and Radio Africa Group. One of the sponsors of the event Book Aid International (BAI) donated 200 books to the three top libraries which totalled to around 5,000 new books.

Read more: Maktaba Awards 2014

Churchill Kids Festival Event

The Kids festival is an event organized by laugh industry targeting to offer lots of fun and talent activities to children. knls was among the main sponsors for this year’s event which was hosted at Carnivore grounds. The event’s theme was “learning and fun edition”. knls used this opportunity to promote reading among the children. 3 libraries within the knls network participated in the event namely Buruburu, Kibera and Nairobi Area. The objective of knls in participating in the event was to promote a reading culture among the children, promote reading as fun and create awareness on library services.

The event kicked off at 9 am with various activities that kept the kids entertained. The event’s program included a two-hour reading session whereby all children were allowed to visit the reading corner. knls booth comprised of 2 reading tents and a mobile library. Knls team hosted and interacted with approximately 3000 visitors. Besides reading, children were also engaged in painting, modelling, colouring, drawing, and reading competition. The winners were awarded with story books. Visitors were also encouraged to subscribe to knls membership.

The climax of the event was a mega concert hosted by Churchill with performances by local gospel artists and renowned comedians as well as talented kids.

GOODBYE OUR EUNICE

GOODBYE OUR EUNICE

Our dear Eunice, As you retire,
Keep a firm grip on your perspective.
Life is not measured so much by the quantity
Of days but by their quality

Retirement is a time
For feeling glad to be alive.
A time when friendships blossom
And enthusiasms thrive.


Bring your all to bear
Upon the coming days of your life
So that each day will be the fulfillment
Of a hope, a dream.


Fill your days with beautiful memories
And joyful moments.
Don’t retire from life
But continue to experience
All that life has to offer.


Our dear Eunice,
Life after retiring
Is the first sip of an aged wine,
That slept in a barrel but never complained That never forgot the knowledge it gained To become an elixir that tastes so divine;
A drink you can just keep on admiring…
Days after retiring
Are suns that reveal the stars, the moon
The lanterns, the fireflies, all of lights
That always stay on in the darkening nights
And with the evening’s slow lulling time
Is a wisdom that’s ever so inspiring.


Now our good colleague
You have a chance to do special things You always wished you could. Retirement is a special time
For knowing…life is real good!
Just remember that in retirement
You switch bosses from the one who hired you
To the one who married you!
May you always be a good companion to your new boss!


May your pockets, Eunice
Hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine so bright on your window pane
And may the rainbow be certain
To follow each rain in your life


May the caring and loving hand of a friend
Always be near you
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you!


Kindly our good sister and mother
As you retire
Kindly share your wisdom and your knowledge
See the gift of retirement
As a gift of new horizons!
Share with us your milk of kindness
Teach us how we can emulate your good deeds
And impart on us
The fear of God and to live a life worthy of
Honour and admiration Congratulations on your retirement And as sure as the sun sets in the west We will surely miss you, mum!

 

Author :James Njoroge

Visually impaired staff knls (Nairobi area)

 

THE NEW NAKURU LIBRARY

The knls Nakuru library has come a long way where the journey to set up the library began in 1975, when the Kenya National Library Service Board requested the Municipal Council of Nakuru to avail facilities that could be used in the provichildren entertain guests with a traditional dance during the eventsion of library services to Nakuru residents. Upon favourable response, knls Nakuru branch was established in February 1976 at Starehe hall located off Kalewa road in Bondeni area of Nakuru Municipality. The library had a floor space of approximately 275sq metres with a sitting capacity of 140 adults and 50 children.

Nakuru library was initially set up to cater for the needs of the then expansive Rift Valley Province. According to the 2009 census, Nakuru County has a population of 1,603,325 and is expected to continue growing as more and more people migrate into the county in search of arable land and to exploit the business opportunities available in the region. Nakuru town is the fourth largest urban centre in Kenya after Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu with an estimated population of over 500,000 people.  Due to the increased population within Nakuru town, the library patronage rose and soon the facility was overstretched in the provision of library and information services. As a result, there was need to establish a larger facility that could serve the region adequately. The then Municipal Council of Nakuru supported the initiative by allocating knls a parcel of land in 1995 where the new library could be set up, and that was how the fate of the current new facility was sealed.

Read more: THE NEW NAKURU LIBRARY

4th ICT GRADUATION AT knls MURANG'A BRANCH

4th ICT GRADUATION AT knls MURANG'A BRANCH

Kenya National Library Service (knls)entered into a partnership agreement with Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK) formerly known as Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) in the establishment of ten e-resource centres in rural libraries with the aim of promoting widespread access to information, knowledge and communication through ICT technology. Other goals of the partnership were to bridge the digital divide between the rural Kenyan communities and those in urban townships through the creation of ICT hubs as well as promote the use of ICT in learning, training, research and educational endeavours.

Through this initiative, one of the libraries that benefited from this exercise was Murang’a Library which is located in central Kenya, 85 kilometres away from Nairobi. The Library is located along Kenyatta Avenue, directly opposite the County Headquarters. Ten computers, furniture, ICT infrastructure and internet connection were received in the library and the mandate of promoting the use of ICT was left to the librarians in that branch. Through the computers provided and the internet connection, the librarians began a program of offering free ICT training to the library users and the community at large. To date, over 167 trainees have gone through the free ICT training program successfully and awarded certificates for their participation, where the 4th Graduation took place on Wednesday 18th June 2014. The program has also increased the library membership registration and attendance as most of them get to walk to the library for the first time and are encouraged to utilize the facility to the maximum.

During this year’s 4th graduation ceremony the Guest of Honour was the Director - knls, Mr Richard Atuti, where 35 students were awarded with Basic ICT skills certificate. Also the CEO praised the graduates for their commitment and urged them to expand the skills through practice and equipping themselves with more knowledge. The training course provided participants with knowledge on topical areas like Introduction to computers, Ms Windows, Ms Word, Ms Excel, Keyboarding, PowerPoint, Publisher and Networking/internet/ Email.

Guests invited and the participants in the training hailed the board and management of knls for providing them with the vital ICT knowledge that will indeed help them utilize computers and computer related infrastructure with ease. One of the key guests invited was the District Education Officer who was highly appreciative of the exercise that saw a total of 35 participants graduate. The participants were people of different age groups; some had just cleared high school, others were in college, others working and others running their own entrepreneurial ventures.

 

However, minimal challenges were experienced like slow internet connectivity and power outages which have been a problem even to other regions of the country. The knls director informed the guests during his key note address that he had already appointed a fulltime ICT officer to be located at the branch and awarded a tender for internet upgrade for faster speeds. The information was well received and the training participants promised to spread the word so as to encourage more participants to enrol.

Kenya National Library Service registers its appreciation to CAK and knls board for facilitating Murang’a branch with the e-resource facilities. The director Mr Atuti commended the staff of Murang’a branch for their dedication and commitment in promoting literacy in the County of Murang’a. He expounded that the staff had worked tirelessly and even put in extra hours to ensure that the ICT training program was a success and indeed the fruits of their work were encouraging. At the same time, the management of knls also encourages other branches that benefited from the CAK program to promote the learning and use of ICT in their branches.

entertainme...
entertainment from the children who are members of the junior book clubs entertainment from the children who are members of the junior book clubs
a cake to c...
a cake to crown it all as we wound up the ceremony a cake to crown it all as we wound up the ceremony
testimonial...
testimonial by one of the participants in the training testimonial by one of the participants in the training
knls direct...
knls director giving his speech during the ict training graduation ceremony knls kenya national library service knls director giving his speech during the ict training graduation ceremony knls kenya national library service
award of ce...
award of certificates award of certificates
the knls di...
the knls director mr. richard atuti holds a conversation with members of staff the knls director mr. richard atuti holds a conversation with members of staff
guests list...
guests listening keenly to the testimonial of the people who underwent the training guests listening keenly to the testimonial of the people who underwent the training
a student r...
a student receives a certificate a student receives a certificate
testimonial...
testimonial 2 testimonial 2
solo perfor...
solo performance by a book club member solo performance by a book club member

Kenyatta University Disability Awareness Day

The NAL braille section was invited to participate as exhibitors at the Kenyatta university fifth disability day which took place on Friday 21st 2014. The theme for the day being “Breaking Barriers: an inclusive University. The commemoration of the day was to provide an opportunity to raise awareness of disability and accessibility and to realize the full and equal participation of students with disabilities in all activities.

James Njoroge and Esther Odanga attended the occasion showcasing braille material and equipment used by the visually impaired and available at the Nairobi Area Library, the equipment included the TOPAZDesktop VideoMagnifier, Perkins Brailler and the Proclaimer talking Bible.  Among the guests who visited the stand were the vice chancellor Kenyatta University Prof. Olive M. Mugenda and the guest of honor Kristina Kenyatta Prad, EBS.

Reading Promotion Campaign and Children Fun Day

knls Kibera Library held a Reading Promotion Campaign on 21st February 2014, with the aim of creating fun and excitement around books among children and to encourage them to become life-long readers. The ceremony was presided over by Dr. Dominic Mwenja Miramar University (California), Francis Mwongela from Co-operative University College of Kenya and Dr. Tanui (Moi University). The theme of the day was: ‘‘Transforming Lives through books and building a nation of happy readers". The main goals of the event were to; Promote Reading culture and enhance learning skills, Create awareness of the available library services, Promote the library as a great place to spend leisure time and have fun, and encourage schools interaction through competitions.

The event was attended by children from; St. Christine Primary, Hope Academy, Joy Springs, St. Charles Lwanga, Anajali Primary, St. Monica, Imani Education Centre, Lang’ata West Primary and Ngei Primary School. In addition, we also had children from the Kibera Community present at the event. The children got to an opportunity to have fun through the various competitions and interaction with their peers from other schools. Also in attendance were students form the Co-operative University who played a key role in coordinating the activities of the day as volunteers and in addition made the function amusing to children.

Read more: Reading Promotion Campaign and Children Fun Day

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