“The health corner is a dream come true.”
Dr Gatuma, Embu
From 2010-2013, the Kenya National Library Service (KNLS) network is working in partnership with Book Aid International to develop ‘health information hubs’ in 15 KNLS libraries across the country. The hubs are areas dedicated to displaying health information. Libraries taking part in the project are shown below.
Over three years, 30 librarians (two from each library), are being trained in how to assess local health information needs, with further support to help them provide resources so that their ‘health information hub’ meets those needs. exciting new partnerships are being formed between the library and local healthcare providers and training institutions. We are sending each library a collection of around 500 health and medical books ranging from diagnostic manuals to healthcare handbooks to ensure primary healthcare providers can access the information they need to give better care and advice to the communities they serve.
Embu Provincial Library
The library in Embu, the provincial capital of the Eastern Province of Kenya, was one of the first libraries to join the project in 2010. Located only 1km away from the provincial general hospital and Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC), the library has always been aware of the huge demand locally for up-to-date health information from students and healthcare workers.
Although the library was already the main source of health information for students in the area, the librarians have seen a huge increase in the number of people visiting, enquiring and borrowing books from the health information hub since it was established in 2010. To meet this increased demand, the library now offers a mobile health information service to local hospitals, universities and medical training colleges, and feedback received shows that doctors, nurses and students are delighted with the range of new books and information that is now so readily available.
Read more about Book Aid International’s wider health book provision programme.
