Turning Nairobi’s Public Libraries Into ‘Palaces for the People’
Here’s a NYT article about the McMillan Library in Nairobi and how a dedicated group of organizers and fundraisers have gone about restoring the colonial-era institution — initially serving only white patrons — and turning it, and other libraries like it, into “palaces for the people.” According to Keynan publisher Angela Wachuka, “…we are here to also reclaim history, to occupy its architecture and to subvert its intended use.”
“The aim was to leave behind their excluding past and remake them into inclusive spaces where Kenyans can archive and share collective memories, engage in creative and civic pursuits, and have at their disposal the technology to gather and disseminate information.” Part of this project — spearheaded by an organization called Book Bunk (started by Wachuka and novelist Wanjiru Koinange) — is to bring in more books in African languages.
Besides the fact that this piece describes how libraries are “great equalizers” (which is something we hear all the time about public libraries, everywhere), I’m struck by how the McMillan fell into disrepair and how so much content — photographs, newspapers, government documents — needs to be preserved and digitized. (There’s a really interesting video up on YouTube about this big undertaking.)
This is a reclamation of an institution while embracing its historical collection. People probably don’t like to refer to libraries as “museums” because that term connotes a hands-off ethos, but really, what this sounds like is the very best kind of museum: the kind where “humanity” is available for all to learn from — and with.
{You can click on the images below to see more content from the NYT article.}
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