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Lamu Fort Library

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Lamu Fort Library
Lamu Island

Lamu Fort Library is a branch of the National Museums of Kenya.[1] The Library was initiated in 1978 as a reference library for museum's staff and researchers. In 1986 it was relocated to a more specious room at the Lamu Fort Museum.[2][3]

History of the library

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Lamu Fort

The library is a department of the Lamu Fort Museum.[3][4] The fort was formally a prison; it was then given to National Museum of Kenya in 1985. The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (S.I.D.A) assisted the National Museums of Kenya to convert the fort into a museum. In 1986 the library was officially reopened at the fort museum by Mr. K. Nordenskiöld, a former director of S.I.D.A on Tuesday 22 April 1986.[3]

Classification of library collection

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The library uses the Dewey Decimal Classification system to classify its collection.[5] Lamu Fort Library is still using a Browne Charging system to lend books. The system uses cards to lend and retrieve books that were borrowed, the cards are arranged in a tray by date of return.[6] The library has about 10,000 items classified under Dewey Decimal Classification System and the catalogue uses the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules.[7]

Branch of the Lamu Fort Library

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The Lamu Fort Library have donated over 2000 books to build up a library in Siyu Fort.[8] The library was started in 2020 with the assistance of the Lamu Fort Librarian. The Library collection consists of donations from the Lamu Fort Library, the British Council, Macmillan, the National Museum of Kenya Resources Center and individual donors. The aim of setting up a library in Siyu is to boost the reading culture of Siyu Community and also to give the Siyu community access to information materials to students and Siyu community. The Fort is Located between Siyu Primary School and a hospital. The library collection is classified using the Dewey Decimal Classification and catalogued using Anglo American Cataloguing rules.

Lamu Fort Library Sections

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The Librarian [9] had subdivided the library into Research, Archive, E-library and Maktaba Sanaa section, for easy retrieval of information.

Research section

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The research section holds theses, projects, historical books, periodicals, bibliographies, and dissertations. The collection covers Lamu history, archaeology, anthropology and poetry. It includes many rare publications of popular Swahili writers such as: Professor Sheikh Nabhany,[10][11] Lamu Conservation books by Usam Ghaidan,[12][13] and Quest for the past : An historical guide to the Lamu Archipelago by Chrysee MacCasler Perry Martin and Esmond Bradley Martine,[14][15] Francesco Siravo and Ann Pulver, new research collections "in this fragile World"[16] a book edited by Clarissa Vierke and Annachiara Raia and many more.

Archive section

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The library holds a large and diverse range of archival materials such as old photographs from Lamu, 19th and 20th century manuscripts, old newspapers, magazines and periodicals, as well as old currencies, and files. A part of the archival collection is digital. It was obtained through a digitization project that was hosted by Lamu Fort Library. The UMADA project digitized roughly two thousand manuscripts and audio cassettes from the personal library of Lamu poet and imam Mahmoud Ahmed Abdulkadir, locally known as Ustadh Mau.[17] It was managed and supervised by Annachiara Raia from the African Studies Centre Leiden in Netherlands[18] The digitization was funded by UCLA’s Modern Endangered Archives Program that is supported by ARCADIA.[19][20][21][22] The digitized poems and sermons can be freely accessed via the UCLA Library Digital Collections.[22] Also the introduction of the MprinT project[23] was done in Lamu Fort Library with team of museum's staff and volunteers on the mapping and digitization of the Islamic manuscripts in the Lamu Archipelago, the MprinT project is managed by Professor Anne Katrine Bang from Bergen University in Norway of department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion.[24] National Museum's staff and volunteers conducted a first mapping of Islamic manuscripts in Pate Island, Lamu including onsite cataloguing by the best expert, order and system ensured by Lamu Fort Library staff and thoroughly documented by the right expertise.[23]

E-library section

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The E-library section is the digital collection, comprising materials such as digital books from Z-Library, and the digital collection that were acquired out of the digitalization work that was done at the library archive section.[22] The E-library section was started with the help of Ms. Shama Abdul Gaziza. A friend of the library, Ms. Shama donated computers and a smart TV to start up the E-library section. The section has over one thousand digital English books of varies subjects including Kenya School Syllabus books.

Maktaba ya Sanaa Section

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The Lamu Maktaba ya Sanaa section is the Library of Art section that was started in 2018. The section has collection of art books, zines, periodicals, art catalogues, magazines and many more. The section was made intentional to provide reference materials for the local and international artists.[25][26] Because of many art festivals that is organized in Lamu county[27] the Lamu Fort Librarian and Ms. Karin Voogd[28] find the need to create the art section to assist local and international artists with art references Materials.[29] The first launching of the Maktaba ya sanaa project was done in Lamu during the Lamu Art festival by Hertbert in 2016, the second launch was done at Africa Studies center Library in Leiden University in Netherlands by Ms. Karin Voogd in 2017[30]

Library Services

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  • Archive Services
  • E-library Services
  • Reading and Research Services
  • Maktaba ya Sanaa Services
  • Health Information

Awards

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Lamu Fort Library is a member of Kenya Library Association[31] and has participated in Maktaba Awards Competition since 2010. In 2011 Lamu Fort Library was awarded 2nd runner up in Public Library Categories[32] and 3rd runner up in Community Library in 2018.[33]

Friends of the Library

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  1. Africa Studies Centre Leiden University Library, Netherlands
  2. Bergen University Norway
  3. Professor Anne Katrina Bang
  4. Wikimedia Kaduna User group Nigeria
  5. Ms. Shama Abdul Gaziza from USA
  6. Ms. Karin Voogd Rotterdam, Netherlands
  7. AgaKhan Foundation, Lamu
  8. Agakhan University Hospital Library Nairobi
  9. Ustadh Mau
  10. Assistant Professor Annachiara Raia
  11. Book Bunk Trust
  12. Ms. Faith Mwanyolo Wikimedia Foundation Kenya

Other National Museums of Kenya Libraries

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References

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  1. ^ "National Museums of Kenya – Where Heritage Lives on". Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  2. ^ "Lamu Museum – National Museums of Kenya". Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  3. ^ a b c "Lamu Fort", Wikipedia, 2023-09-26, retrieved 2024-03-01
  4. ^ "Lamu Fort Museum Library". www.wikidata.org. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  5. ^ "Dewey Decimal Classification", Wikipedia, 2024-02-04, retrieved 2024-03-07
  6. ^ "Browne Issue System", Wikipedia, 2023-08-25, retrieved 2024-03-07
  7. ^ "Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR, AACR2, AACR2R)". Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  8. ^ "Siyu Fort – National Museums of Kenya". Retrieved 2024-03-15.
  9. ^ "Khadija Issa Twahir". www.wikidata.org. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
  10. ^ Jumbe, Ishaq. "Kenya's Kiswahili guru Professor Ahmed Sheikh Nabhani is dead". The Standard. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  11. ^ "Sun sets on Ahmed Nabhany, one of Kenya's best Kiswahili literary and cultural icons". Nation. 2020-07-05. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  12. ^ "Usam Ghaidan - Academia.edu". independent.academia.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  13. ^ GHAIDAN, Usam (1976-01-01). Lamu: A study in conservation (Prima edizione ed.). East African Literature Bureau.
  14. ^ "Esmond Bradley Martin", Wikipedia, 2023-07-15, retrieved 2024-03-06
  15. ^ Martin, Chryssee MacCasler Perry; Martin, Esmond Bradley (1973-01-01). Quest for the past : an historical guide to the Lamu archipelago.
  16. ^ Mau, Ustadh Mahmoud (2023-02-06), "In This Fragile World: Swahili Poetry of Commitment by Ustadh Mahmoud Mau", In This Fragile World, Brill, ISBN 978-90-04-52572-6, retrieved 2024-03-15
  17. ^ "Mahmoud Ahmed Abdulkadir", Wikipedia, kamusi elezo huru (in Swahili), 2023-11-07, retrieved 2024-03-06
  18. ^ "Ustadh Mau Digital Archive (UMADA) Project Launch | African Studies Centre Leiden". www.ascleiden.nl. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  19. ^ "UCLA Library", Wikipedia, 2024-01-08, retrieved 2024-03-06
  20. ^ "Ustadh Mau Digital Archive (UMADA). Maktaba ya kidijitali ya Ustadh Mau | African Studies Centre Leiden". www.ascleiden.nl. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  21. ^ "'No metadata, no future'. Kicking off Ustadh Mau Digital Archive (UMADA) | African Studies Centre Leiden". www.ascleiden.nl. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  22. ^ a b c "Ustadh Mau Digital Archive (UMADA) - UCLA Library Digital Collections". digital.library.ucla.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  23. ^ a b "MprinT@EAST_AFRICA". University of Bergen. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  24. ^ "Anne Katrine Bang". University of Bergen. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  25. ^ "LMYS – Lamu Maktaba Ya Sanaa". Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  26. ^ "The Project – LMYS". Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  27. ^ "Lamu Art Festival – 30 Visual Artists from Europe and Africa". Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  28. ^ "Lamu Painters Festival 2015 - Karin Voogd - Lamu, Kenya". www.lamupaintersfestival.org. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  29. ^ "Lamu Art Festival – 30 Visual Artists from Europe and Africa". Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  30. ^ "Exhibition: Karin Voogd's Book Covers for a Library of the Arts in Lamu, Kenya | African Studies Centre Leiden". www.ascleiden.nl. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  31. ^ "Kenya Library Association". Retrieved 2024-03-15.
  32. ^ "Kenya Library Association: MAKTABA AWARD". Kenya Library Association. Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  33. ^ "Lamu Museum – National Museums of Kenya". Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  34. ^ "Library – National Museums of Kenya". Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  35. ^ Malindikenya. "Malindi library goes digital - British solidarity brings fifty E-readers". malindikenya.net (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  36. ^ "National Museums of Kenya Heritage Training Institute (NMK HTI) – National Museums of Kenya". Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  37. ^ "DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY – National Museums of Kenya". Retrieved 2024-03-14.

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