Staffing Secondary School Libraries in Kenya

Abstract

The school library situation in Kenya is on the whole gloomy. Only a handful of schools can afford to employ professional librarians. Out of a total of three thousand secondary schools in Kenya, less than forty have positions for trained para-professionals. Teacher-librarians do not receive any allowance for their additional responsibilities and the majority have never had any training in librarianship. Clerical staff and pupil assistants are employed in many school libraries. Lack of recognition of the importance of school libraries on the part of the authorities adds to the staffing problem. Despite these problems, attempts are being made to improve the situation. The Ministry of Education is gradually realizing the value of school libraries and new library education and training programmes are being developed. In the long run, however, the main solution will be to produce teacher-librarians with dual qualifications.