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The purpose of this study was to establish reading practices among retirees and to what extent public libraries in Kenya are a source of information and knowledge to them.

This was a qualitative study whose research questions were; what are retirees' reading practices? why do retirees engage in the reading practices they engage in? and to what extent do retirees use the public library for their reading practices? Purposive and snowballing were used as sampling techniques and interview was used for data collection. Data were analysed thematically.

The findings were that retirees' reading practices are fragmentary and erratic; retirees mainly engage in reading practices for spiritual reasons and for access of current information; and that retirees do not use the services of the public library for their reading activities.

The research sample is 16 subjects who might not represent features of the whole population. The findings are, however, an index to what the situation might be.

The findings are the result of actual qualitative research.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of international library materials aid in primary schools and to outline obstacles to effective utilization for maximum literacy benefits among primary school children.

Data were gathered via interviews, observation, focus group discussions and document analyses.

Findings indicate that teachers were trained by Kenya National Library Services Kisii Branch staff on basics of library materials management before literacy materials were sent to the schools; teachers and pupils reported that development of vocabulary and better essay writing are some of the benefits of the donated materials; and culturally distanced materials and school dynamics impact negatively on the effective utilization of the donated library resources.

The authors recommend that donors work hand in hand with the Ministry of Education and other local stakeholders that it may be possible to address obstacles to proper and highly effective implementation of literacy empowerment projects.

The findings of this study are from original research and the implications must be treated as such.

The purpose of this paper is to explain how public libraries have been instrumental in early child school literacy teaching and learning. Most African public schools do not usually afford enough core textbooks and supplementary readers.

This was a qualitative case study in Western Kenya amongst public library staff members, public primary school teachers and parents of library children clients. The following questions were addressed: What is the book situation in public primary schools in the study site? What school-type literacy-related services are offered by the sampled public library? and What are library staff members’, teachers’ and parents’ feelings about the public library services offered? Observations, interviews and document studies were used to collect data. Data were analysed thematically.

Public schools do not have enough core textbooks and the situation is worse for supplementary readers; the public library branch studied offers critical school-type literacies to school children both at the library building as well as at public schools registered with it; and library staff members, teachers, and parents express positive feelings about the services offered.

This was a case study whose findings might not apply to the larger situation and the study did not confirm actual literacy benefits of the library services amongst school children by, for instance, conducting literacy tests. The findings are, however, an index to the possible situation in the macro context.

The relevant stakeholders should find ways of co-opting public libraries as associates of public schools in literacy teaching. This relationship is not straight forward in Kenya.

The findings reported are from original research.

The purpose of this paper is to establish stocking and services offered and user culture at the Kenya National Library Services Kisii Branch. The study sought to respond to the following questions: Which books form the stock of Kenya National Library Services Kisii Branch? Which services does the Kenya National Library Services Kisii Branch offer to the public on a regular basis? What is the user motivation for and frequency of use of the National Library Services at Kisii Branch?

Three instruments were used in data collection; document analysis, observation and interview. Document analysis obtained data on membership and frequency; observation obtained data on stocking, services, and user culture; and interview sought clarification on data obtained from documents and observation.

The findings indicate that publications in business and accounting and school type books form the bulk of the stock of books; the library offers only basic information access services; users are motivated by school assignments, examinations and academic project deadlines to visit the library hence user frequency in the library is predictable throughout the year.

Current practices at the library by both library staff and user culture have negative implications on public literacy and socio-economic development.

This paper presents information obtained from a systematic data collection and analysis. The findings are original and should be addressed by the relevant stakeholders.

The paper aims to explore the links between corruption and accounting in the public procurement setting. In particular, it investigates how accounting can fight or facilitate corruption

The study takes a qualitative approach, analyzing one of the worst recent Italian cases of corruption, the “MOSE” trial. Documents produced during the trial are analyzed.

The findings contribute to our understanding of how the (mis)use of accounting can help to build a “sustainable” corruption network, and be used to create, maintain and share corruptive cash flows. Participating actors can use accounting tools to coordinate their actions and organize their misconduct. Accounting may also reveal the existence of such networks, however, by enabling the fiscal police to discover tax fraud, and by reconstructing how a corruption network functions from records kept to manage internal cash flows and the provision of other benefits.

Because corruption is a worldwide phenomenon, a better understanding of how it functions may lead (among other things) to the identification of more effective prevention measures. Particular attention should be paid to events that favor corruption, such as extraordinary occurrences, huge amounts of public resources and new institutional structure without appropriate control and balance tools.

Given the specific features of episodes of corruption, qualitative studies on this topic are scarce. Little is known about corruption processes, and even less about the part that accounting can play in them. The MOSE case offers some intriguing insight, showing how accounting can be used to build a “sustainable” corruption network by collecting slush funds and facilitating benefit-sharing among individuals.

The Nationalökonomische Gesellschaft (Austrian Economic Association, NOeG) provides a prominent example of the Viennese economic circles and associations that more than academic economics dominated scientific discourse in the interwar years. For the first time this chapter gives a thorough account of its history, from its foundation in 1918 until the demise of its long-time president, Hans Mayer, 1955, based on official documents and archival material. The topics treated include its predecessor and rival, the Gesellschaft österreichischer Volkswirte, its foundation in 1918 soon to be followed by years of inactivity, the relaunch by Mayer and Mises, the survival under the NS-regime and the expulsion of its Jewish members and the slow restoration after 1945. In particular, an attempt is made to provide a list of the papers presented to the NOeG, as complete as possible, for the period 1918–1938.

The purpose of this paper is to look at the potential synergies between tourism and landscapes and examine the potential contribution of tourism to build social-ecological resilience in the Dutch Wadden.

The authors reveal how a social-ecological systems perspective can be used to conceptualize the Wadden as a coupled and dynamic system. This paper is a conceptual analysis that applies this approach to the Dutch Wadden. The data used for the inquiry primarily comes from a literature review.

The authors argue that the social-ecological systems perspective is a useful approach and could be used to improve the governance of multi-functional socio-ecological systems in coastal areas. Opportunities for synergies between tourism and landscapes have been overlooked. The authors consider that tourism and nature protection are potentially compatible and that the synergies should be identified.

This paper is only a conceptual application rather than an empirical case study. Further research to actually apply the methodology is needed.

Managers of protected areas should consider applying a social-ecological systems approach.

The views of a wide variety of stakeholders should be considered in landscape planning.

The value of this paper lies in the articulation of the social-ecological systems perspective as a way to identify and understand the complex interactions between tourism and landscape, and the potential synergies between them.

The construction of teaching and learning subjectivities in tertiary education institutions takes place within postcolonial dynamics, where desires, emotions and conscious and unconscious processes need to be read against the particular social and historical conditions of Kenyan material and political realities. Curiously, Indigenous language texts could be argued as constituting the ‘difficult knowledge’ (Britzman, 2003a, p. 31) of the Kenyan education aims. Britzman’s concept of difficult knowledge refers to knowledge that helps to deal with traumatic history. In the Kenyan context, traumatic history would include dealing with remembering and forgetting imperialism, reconciliation (tribal and/or political violence), loss and death, and the ambivalence of re-imagining the notion of Being in an interconnected global community. Therefore, in order to present a viable analysis of the extent to which teachers’ reading positions (perspectives and perceptions) in Kenya have never been fully appreciated or fully incorporated in teaching and learning, there is a need to explore in-depth studies in this area. This will act as a starting point to an understanding of complex intricacies of preparing teachers in tertiary education institutions in Kenya. The focus in this chapter includes rethinking meaningful culturally responsive pedagogy in tertiary institutions from a global perspective (Svetelj, 2018). The chapter explores the shifting and complex relationship between theory and practice with regard to preparing teachers in tertiary education for a changing world. It reviews and reflects on teaching and learning of English language and literature in postcolonial contexts. Using personal insights, both as an insider (former secondary school teacher in Kenya) and outsider – teacher trainer at a tertiary institution, what Kenyan teachers want from the teaching of English literary texts will be discussed. The contestations regarding best teaching practices, the effects of teaching on the development of self, and resistances in teaching and learning also emerge as issues of relevance to teaching and reading English literary texts in Kenyan education and are useful as departures for critical analysis.