Annual General Meeting (AGM)

ANNOUNCEMENT OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 18 APRIL 2012
FROM SECRETARY, DR. MARLA STONE

You are kindly asked to attend the Annual General Meeting of the Kenya Museum Society Wednesday, 18 April, at 6:15 pm at the Louis Leakey Auditorium.  See the agenda below.  Wine, juice and bitings will be provided from 5:45.

  • Complimentary refreshments5.45 pm
  • AGM 6pm
  • Talk on Contemporary Kenyan Literature by Ariel Bookman7pm (see overview below)

The meeting will start at 6:15 pm, followed by a 15 minute talk at 7pm on Kenyan literature.  All who are present for the AGM will be registered for a drawing for a selected book from the KMS Shop.

Any member who wishes to nominate officers or other Council members is encouraged to contact the the KMS office by email or phone.  Any member who wishes to submit a resolution at the Annual General Meeting must do so by sending it in writing by Friday, 3oth March to the Secretary, Dr. Marla Stone, via the KMS email (info@kenyamuseumsociety.org).

Please confirm your attendance on or before Monday, 16th April by email (info@kenyamuseumsociety.org) or phone (020 3743808, 0724 255299, or wireless 020 2339158).   If your membership has lapsed or will soon lapse you may renew prior to the beginning of the meeting.   Though all categories of members are encouraged to attend, only paid-up members, exclusive of student members, visitor members, NMK special category members, and KMS staff, will be able to vote on any issues.

The agenda for the AGM will be as follows:

  1.  Opening of Meeting
  2. Approval of Minutes of 2011 AGM
  3. Chairperson’s Report
  4. Treasurer’s Report
  5. New Business
  6. Election of officers and other Council members
  7. Appointment of auditor
  8. Additional new business
  9. Revision of visitors membership charges
  10.  Adjournment

Constitutional Changes
To be presented at AGM 18 April 2012

There are no proposed changes to the Constitution.  There is one proposal to the By-Laws to add one category of membership and to raise fees on 3 existing categories.

Changes in membership and fees proposed:
Single                    1500   from 1200
Family                   2000   from 1700
Corporate           6000   from 15,000
Upcountry          1200   (if residence is over 100 kms from Nairobi) – new category

These sections from the By-Laws regard membership.

CATEGORIES OF MEMBERSHIP

    1. Single Resident, being a person who is a resident of Kenya
    2. Family Resident, being parent or parents with dependent children under 18 years of age or couples who are residing in Kenya
    3. Student, being a student resident of Kenya
    4. Corporate, being an institution or organization registered in Kenya
    5. Non Resident, being a person or family not residing in Kenya
    6. Visitor, being a person granted one month membership
    7. NMK staff, being staff members of National Museums of Kenya
    8. Exchange member, being an institution granting reciprocal publications exchange
    9. Complimentary, being a person granted membership by the Council for one year

ADMISSIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
Admission to the Society is upon payment of membership subscription

    1. Council shall have the power to expel or alter the category of membership of any member
    2. The annual fee shall be for the period of one year from date of payment of the subscription
    3. All renewal memberships are payable one year after the original payment date
    4. If any member shall fail to pay the subscription within one month following the due date, membership of the Society ceases but may be reinstated after the payment of subscription

MEMBERSHIP FEES

Annual membership fees for all categories are established by Council and remain in force unless and until altered by majority vote of members at the Annual General Meeting or in a Special General Meeting.

Below is an overview of the Talk.

Over the last decade the Kenyan literary scene has exploded with creativity, energy and activity. New writers and publishers seem to blossom overnight, and bookshops around the country are thriving. At the same time the Kenyan people, who have been a perennial source of fascination to the outside world, are increasingly represented in new fiction and scholarship by non-Kenyans. Ari Bookman, a literary researcher from Northwestern University (US), will explain these trends and offer insights into the future of Kenyan literature. He will highlight the contemporary authors, publishers, and books that are changing the way Kenya is perceived, both at home and in the world. He will also give tips on where to look for what’s new, entertaining, and beautiful in Kenyan writing.

Ari Bookman is currently completing research for his doctoral dissertation, entitled “Kenyan Fiction and Consumer Culture, 1963-2010.” He holds an M.A. in English and Certificate in African Studies from Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois, USA) where he expects to earn his Ph.D. in English in 2013. His research has been supported by the Social Science Research Council, the Program of African Studies (Northwestern), and the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities (Northwestern). He has given academic presentations about East African literature in the US, UK, and Kenya, and is the author of forthcoming articles about Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Kwani Trust, and M.G. Vassanji.