Fundraising as a source of funding for Public University Libraries in Kenya

Abstract

Public universities in Kenya continue to rely on state funding which has become inadequate over the years. Insufficient funding in these institutions has led to adoption of cost-cutting measures one of which is the reduction of expenditure in their heavily been reduced is the library. Reduced library funding has resulted in inadequate information and human resources, lack of modern facilities, inadequate space and over-stretching of the existing facilities. In this regard, the library department needs to urgently consider fundraising as a supplementary source of funding. The aim of this study therefore was to examine fundraising as a viable supplementary source of funding for public university libraries in Kenya. The objectives of the study were to determine the funding requirements of public university libraries in Kenya, establish the funding policies of public university libraries in Kenya, identify the sources of funding for public university libraries in Kenya, assess the adequacy of funding allocated to public university libraries in Kenya, examine the possibility of fundraising as a supplementary source of funding in public university libraries in Kenya, determine fundraising challenges faced by public university libraries in Kenya and suggest measures needed to undertake successful fundraising activities in public university libraries in Kenya. This study was guided by the Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT) which emphasizes the need to mobilize various resources towards the furtherance of desired goals and the need to form a core group of highly influential and professional strategists to plan and execute resource mobilization activities. The study adopted the survey research design and primarily used its qualitative and some aspects of quantitative approaches to obtain data from library managers and selected informants from the then seven public universities in Kenya. Specifically, a personal (face-to-face) interview and secondary data analysis methods of data collection were used. The study employed a semi-structured interview schedule to collect data from the respondents. The study used content analysis method to analyse the data and a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods to present and interpret the findings. The findings of this study indicate that public university libraries in Kenya had funding requirements based on their activities, did not have funding and fundraising policies, received inadequate funding mainly from the state, donors and tuition fees, undertook some forms of fundraising activities albeit without a well structured system and faced a number of fundraising challenges. This study recommends among others, the need for public universities in Kenya to establish funding and fundraising policies, integrate fundraising as a core activity for University Librarians, establish centralized undraising departments, direct all funds collected in the name of the library towards library use, establish strategic fundraising lobby groups and establish feasible library fundraising models. The study also recommends that public university libraries should market themselves aggressively and improve their visibility, equip librarians with fundraising skills, adopt creative fundraising strategies, establish fundraising units or sections and work closely with other university departments engaging in fundraising work.