Twenty public librarians from libraries in the Kenya National Library Service (KNLS) network will attend a four-day workshop on design thinking and project management for public libraries.

Training will be conducted by five Kenyan public librarians selected to be trainers within the KNLS network as part of an EIFL-KNLS initiative to strengthen continued professional development of public librarians in Kenya. The initiative develops librarians’ training skills and knowledge in specific subject areas, enabling them to pass on skills and knowledge to colleagues in 61 public libraries in the KNLS network.

Design thinking training (21 - 22 January) will be led by KNLS trainers, Raymond Chepkwony from KNLS Nairobi Area Public Library; Caroline Ngacaku from KNLS Muranga Public Library, and Sarah Ogembo from KNLS Head Office in Nairobi. The librarians will learn about human-centred design, an approach that develops library services and projects that can be adapted to suit local community needs and contexts.

Project management training (23 - 24 January), covering a range of skills needed to plan, develop and manage projects, will be led by KNLS trainers Caroline Ngacaku from KNLS Muranga Public Library, and Julie Musandu, Sarah Ogembo and Cyrus Ndogo, all from KNLS Head Office.

This is the first of a series of workshops that will be led by newly-skilled KNLS trainers in 2019. At the end of the four-day workshop, EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme Capacity Building Manager Susan Schnuer will work with the five trainers, assessing their performance and skills and providing further coaching as needed.