About National Book Trust of Uganda (NABOTU)
The National Book Trust of Uganda (NABOTU), founded in 1997, is a non-government organization that brings together associations and institutions within Uganda’s book sector to promote authorship, publishing and a culture of reading in Uganda.
NABOTU was set up in 1997 to promote authorship, publishing and the development of a culture of reading in Uganda.
It was the successor body to the Uganda Publishers and Booksellers Association (UPABA) which had been formed in the early 1990s as a forum for promoting a good policy environment for Uganda’s publishing industry.
At the time of the formation of NABOTU, Uganda had started to embrace an open and competitive publishing environment following the adoption of the textbook policy in 1998.
The textbook policy which allows 5 different titles for every school subject marked the emergence of a local publishing industry in Uganda which hitherto was dominated by multinational publishers.
In 2000, NABOTU was one of the founding book councils together with the National Book Development Council of Kenya (NBDCK) and Baraza Ya Maendeleo Vitabu Tanzania (BAMVITA) of the East African Book Development Association (EABDA). Under the EABDA outfit with the support of Sida, Book Aid International and Hivos, NABOTU has been implementing the East Africa Book Development Programme. The goal of the programme is the eradication of poverty through literacy enhancement.
The programme has several projects including:
- Children’s Reading Tents;
- Support to school library development;
- Rural community library development;
- Annual National Book Week Festivals;
- Skills development for book sector professionals like authors, publishers, booksellers, etc.;
- Literary awards;
- Book donations and;
- Advocacy on issues like textbook policy, national book policy, book trade, copyright, right to write and read, etc.
NABOTU has recently expanded the programme with the support of the International Federation of Reprographic Rights Organisations (IFRRO) and IDRC to include copyright management and research on new publishing innovations such as flexible copyright licensing.
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