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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | 'Sorry: no free reading' |
Authors: | Staunton, Irene Aina, Tade Akin Katama, Agnes Jay, Mary |
Year: | 1995 |
Periodical: | African Research and Documentation |
Issue: | 69 |
Pages: | 17-22 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Africa |
Subjects: | 1995 publishing conference papers (form) |
Abstract: | Papers presented to the Librarians' Seminar at the London International Book Fair, 20 March 1995, which focused on issues facing African publishers and UK librarians. Irene Staunton outlines the problems confronting the publishing industry in Zimbabwe and the experience of Baobab Books, which began in 1988. She notes that Zimbabwe does not yet have a strong reading culture and that most school children's experience of books is negative. Tade Akin Aina describes the publishing activities of Codesria, founded in Dakar, Senegal, in 1973, the constraints under which academic publishing in Africa has to operate and how Codesria has tackled them. Agnes Katama presents ISP, a non-profit scientific press whose mandate is to publish for the parent institution, the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE). Mary Jay explains what African Books Collective (ABC), founded in 1989 by 17 African publishers, is, its place in the 'book chain' and the services it offers to librarians. She concludes that current book trade conditions are dismal and calls on publishers and libraries to join forces in the interests of their common cause to maintain collections and address the issue of the paucity of funding for book buying. The final paper is a report on the projects and activities undertaken by APNET (African Publishers' Network) in the period 1993-1994, including international contacts, the African Publishing Institute (API), trade promotion and book fairs, research and consultancies, and database and e-mail development. |