Botswana: The Botswana National Library Service hosted a capacity building workshop for the budding writers of the nations. The workshop was hosted in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture.
The workshop was hosted in Letlhakane on Wednesday, with several members of the community in attendance at the workshop. The officials have shared that the aim of the workshop was to bring Letlhakane’s sharp and creative minds together.
The officials have shared that it is important for the creatives of the nation to receive the support of the government. The creatives in this case, include the writers and authors of Botswana
The event served as an opportunity for the attendants to interchange their skills and information on professional, legal and authentic writing. Kgosi Ntekolang Kegopetswe delivered the opening address at the workshop.
He spoke of the importance of having libraries in our communities play. He said that libraries play a very important role in preserving and disseminating information.
The aim of constructing libraries is also to cater to the needs of the bookworms in Botswana. Kgosi Kegopetswe believes that reading and writing serve as a pathway for both individuals to explore each other’s creative imaginations.
He said that well articulated stories that can be used as an advantage to convey Botswana’s cultural heritage.
Botswana National Library Services was represented by John K. Mmatli. He highlighted that BNLS aims to create a platform to provid young and upcoming writers with competitive writing skills both locally and internationally.
It serves to help writers to monetize their work. The ministry believes that writing is no longer just a hobby but a growing source of self-employment opportunity. Mmatli emphasized that the Botswana National Arts Council has invested half a million to help in the progress of the literary work
Readers and authors of Letlhakane discussed the contribution of the National Reference Library to the library heritage. They also talked about ISNB/ISSN/ISMN application processes, adherence to the Legal Deposit Law and writers copyright laws.
The information about all these topics was given to the workshop attendants by. Neo Tumagole from the Companies and Intellectual property Authority-CIPA.