Our History
The Uganda society is one of the oldest institutions in Uganda founded in 1923. The society also manages The Uganda Society Library which happens to be the oldest Library in the country.The Uganda Society has played an important role in preserving Uganda's cultural diversity and scientific heritage.
Why "give me those books campaign?"
Very many people have asked us what we are doing to get books that are lying in different offices,homes and corridors with out any body bothering to take care and preserve them.We had the idea but did not have resources to implement it.Another reason that has been itching us here is the difficulties one go through to get a 50 year old news paper or a 100 year old book in the country.The response one gets asking about the old archives is that they were burnt by fire,destroyed by termites,old things are not useful therefore they were thrown away .We want to change this norm so that in future people can get this information with ease.
By contributing to "give me those books campaign" you will be helping in the preservation of documentary heritage in Uganda for future generations.You will also be promoting public awareness on the use of preserving and protecting books in the country.
The project.
We plan to collect one hundred thousand (100,000) books in a period of three months starting with June ,July and August 2016.The campaign is targeting various books including biographies ,natural history books ,historical collections,Novels, unpublished manuscripts ,old maps,rare books , anthropology collections ,ethnography,accounts ,Journals , old newspapers and correspondences between different administrators all about Uganda and Africa in general.The books or documents to be collected in this campaign include those published before 1860 and those that have been published after 1860 to 2005 .
In order for this project to succeed ,we need your contribution.
We have budgeted for $7500 to make sure that our team of 8 volunteers are everywhere in the 4 regions of the country ie; Eastern region,Central region,Northern region and the Western region.
30% will be spent on buying some of the rare books about Uganda from international book stores.
20% of the contributed funds will be spent on facilitating the volunteers by establishing collecting spots in all areas in the country,accommodation,transport and up keep in form of meals.
20% of the funds will be spent on printing T-shirts ,brochures ,Capes, bags and certificates of recognition for all those that would be willing to give out their books and a prize for to the person that will contribute most valuable books in this campaign.
In addition to this,plastic boxes will also be bought to help in the packing of the books.
25% of the funds will be spent transportation of the collected books to The Uganda Society Library located at Uganda Museum.
5% of the funds raised will be used to pay the Indiegogo platform fee.
Once at Uganda Museum,the books would be digitized by The Uganda Society Library.We will keep the books in the Uganda Society Library , The Uganda Museum resource center and the National Library.We are aware of the copy right issues in the world.Only the books which have copyright permission and those whose copy right has expired would be digitized and uploaded into our internet archive.The The Uganda society Library management would help to negotiate copy right permissions with the publishers or writers. .But the most important objective of this campaign is to collect the books and have them conserved and preserved in a proper environment that the books deserve and be accessible to the public.
The Impact
Your contribution to this cause is vital to the preservation of books (documentary heritage )and will help change the mindset of people on what they think about books.Books are not toilet papers or tissues for use in Latrines or packaging materials for use in shops,they are source of Knowledge and information.
Risks & Challenges
We are aware that the reading culture is still a big problem .Book preservation campaigns like this do not sound good to some people's ears like it would have been if somebody talked about the beer festival but we continue to reach out to people through our reading forums , book exhibitions and public talks.
Library and information science profession continue to lag behind in the country and people think that the only work a librarian has got to do is to sit and wait for the researchers to come and browse through the books as he assists them.This notion has killed creativity in Libraries in the country and hence people's description of libraries as a "place where books go to die".We want to change this notion to instead a" place where books go to live"
Other Ways You Can Help
You can also become a member of The Uganda Society .Visit The Uganda Society Library for more information or send an email to the contacts below.
You can also help share this campaign with in your networks to make it happen.If you also have the books to give out ,you can give them to us.
