Students and staff take part in the Library Week event, where they participated in several events over the week aimed at the cultivation of a reading culture.

By Azenath Ateka
The USIU-Africa Library held a week-long event dubbed “Library Week 2020 – Know to Inspire” from February the 17 to 20. The aim of the event was to celebrate libraries, encourage a reading culture and foster library use. Most of the activities took place in the Library and the idea was to communicate the library as a place for both social and intellectual interactions.
The week started with an opening ceremony on Monday where the Associate Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs, Prof. Munyae Mulinge emphasized the link between library use and the achievement of a high GPA, urging students to make the most of the library, which is considered one of the best in the East African region.
To promote a reading culture, the library invited 50 pupils from Roysambu Primary School for a reading activity, where KTN presenter and current USIU-Africa student, Ali Manzu got the opportunity to read to the students. The books used during this session were provided by the Kenya National Library Services-Buruburu. In line with this, the Library also had a day where patrons could ‘sweeten their lunch with a story’, which was led by the Public Speaking club and involved people reading and sharing about various books, including African literature. Students especially enjoyed this session as it was the first time they were allowed to eat in the library.
The week concluded with a treasure hunt, which sought to test the knowledge that USIU-Africa students had about their library. Students ran up and down the library floors following the clues that were provided, with the first student finishing the hunt after 46 minutes, and winning a prize alongside two others.
To keep the spirit alive, we would like to remind you that our call for book donations is still open. We have already received a lot of books from students, staff and faculty. We continue to ask that if you have used children books and novels consider donating it, it could change a life. These books will be donated to Roysambu Primary School at the end of the semester as part of promoting reading.