Someone has beaten me to an idea I’ve had for a long time
Most new novels and bestsellers in Nairobi sell for 660 shillings ($8) and above, which is quite expensive. And once done with a book, there is little to do but pass it on to an endless string of friends until it gets lost, damaged beyond having any value, or you lose interest. One bookstore has come up with a solution to this problem
Book Villa (opp. The Stanley Hotel – Tel: 340294) on Standard Street has a library which allows members to borrow unlimited books. Bronze class allows a member to borrow 1 book at a time and costs 1,000 shillings a year, Silver – 3 books at a time (3,000 a year) and Gold – 6 books at a time (5,000 shillings a year).
There’s no time condition of books, but one can’t borrow more books until they return previous ones taken. Other terms and conditions: Membership fees not refundable, nor is a 500 shilling registration fee. Also, books borrowed cannot exceed the value of your membership and must be returned in the same condition as when they were taken.
That is good news,is it only novels or other helpful books.
You know what else i feel is lacking.. a cozy environmet within such bookshops that allows folks the right ambience to sit and enjoy a good read.
It struck me that it has not occured to these major bookshops such as BookPoint and TBC that encouraging folks to read within is a clever strategy to have more return customers from less turnover and repeat visits.
Every time i visit one in Nai i feel sch an air of distrust its almost like they are hoping u dont take a peek inside the book until uve paid some cash..
this sounds good , there are some book vendors in mombasa who have been doing this for a while now – call them street libraries if you like , folks exchange books for 50/- for two weeks ,no registration required just buy a book from the vendor and you become a member . I am yet to see such initiatives in nrb
one more reason to love Mombasa
@deno…i know exactly how you feel. I get to europe and it takes a while to get used to being able to sit in a book shop and look through a book ur interested in without having to pay for it first.
This is just what i need. Thanks for the information…Wish I knew this one year ago!
its good, keep it up.