In 1931, the primary library in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, opened its doorways — to white patrons solely.
Almost a century later, Kenyans dressed within the slinky robes, flapper headpieces and tweed fits of that period streamed into the now-dilapidated area in a celebration that was half fund-raiser for the transform of the long-lasting constructing, half reclamation of the town’s public libraries as “palaces for the individuals.”
“Our public libraries might be glamorous areas of storytelling,” mentioned Angela Wachuka, a Kenyan writer. However, she added, “we’re right here to additionally reclaim historical past, to occupy its structure and to subvert its supposed use.”
The restoration of the McMillan Memorial Library and others within the metropolis was the brainchild of Wachuka and the novelist Wanjiru Koinange, who based E book Bunk, a Kenyan nonprofit, in 2017 to revive and reclaim the town’s public libraries. The purpose was to go away behind their excluding previous and remake them into inclusive areas the place Kenyans can archive and share collective reminiscences, have interaction in inventive and civic pursuits, and have at their disposal the expertise to collect and disseminate info.
Amongst their targets is to convey extra books in African languages to the libraries, and incorporate companies catering to these with visible, bodily or studying disabilities.
“The purpose of E book Bunk has been to show libraries into palaces for the individuals,” Wachuka mentioned, “a refuge the place they will collect and share concepts and dream of a greater future.”
Because the friends streamed into the gala, in December, organizers urged them to think about themselves as “rebellious gate-crashers” who, whereas dressed as these previously, have been about to embark on a radically totally different future by which libraries are an important public good.
Nairobi, a fast-growing metropolis of over 4 million individuals, has only a few bookstores or well-funded libraries. E book Bunk’s work comes amid heated conversations about city design and about how corruption and colonial techniques proceed to form the best way public infrastructure and areas are designed and who will get entry to them.
“Within the case of Nairobi, there’s nearly an acceptance that sure social divisions ought to exist throughout social courses and totally different societal teams,” mentioned Fixed Cap, an city planner who has collaborated with E book Bunk previously.
Restoring public libraries, he mentioned, could possibly be a possibility to interrupt these limitations and convey collectively individuals from totally different socio-economic, ethnic, racial and spiritual backgrounds.
For Wachuka and Koinange, the journey started a decade in the past as they looked for a venue to host an occasion for the Kwani? literary competition. The 2 thought the McMillan library — constructed by Girl Lucy McMillan as a memorial to her American husband, Sir Northrup McMillan, and later bequeathed to the Nairobi Metropolis Council — can be a super venue given its centrality and connection to the town.
However after they walked in, Wachuka mentioned, they have been stunned to see its crumbling state: Its inside neoclassical structure was fading, its flooring and partitions have been in ruinous situation and its collections have been gathering mud.
Whereas they discovered one other location for the occasion, the 2 instantly started researching the historical past and administration construction of the McMillan library, and shortly after, left their jobs to focus full time on its restoration.
Certainly one of their earlier discoveries was that the McMillan library was the primary of a collection of different libraries constructed within the metropolis. Solely two have been nonetheless open: the Makadara and Kaloleni libraries, within the metropolis’s low-income japanese suburbs.
After forming a partnership with the Nairobi metropolis administration in 2018, E book Bunk first targeted on restoring the 2 smaller libraries, prioritizing the wants of the communities there.
The 2 branches have since reopened, with the Makadara library internet hosting storytelling classes, movie screenings, music performances and a literary competition. The Kaloleni branchis in a neighborhood constructed within the Nineteen Forties by Italian prisoners of warfare, and has turn out to be a hub for kids to do their homework and take part in workshops that assist them, for instance, discover ways to become profitable utilizing their inventive expertise.
Joyce Nyairo, a Kenyan educational and cultural analyst, mentioned that the restored libraries have the possibility to be “nice equalizers,” notably for individuals from deprived backgrounds.
These libraries, she mentioned, might be locations the place younger individuals can learn, but additionally join and collaborate with friends who share their pursuits or problem their worldviews.
“We want areas by which we are able to carry out our urbanity unashamedly and really feel acknowledged and legitimized by it,” Nyairo mentioned. “These are areas we are able to come to, work together with, contribute to, take from and belong.”
Over time, E book Bunk has undertaken a number of initiatives to enrich its imaginative and prescient of restoring libraries. In 2020, it started a analysis undertaking that has thus far recognized 1,323 public, non-public, institutional and group libraries in at the very least 12 Kenyan counties. They’ve produced a podcast concerning the historical past and design of the McMillan library. Additionally they launched “Inexperienced Bunk,” a undertaking that installs photo voltaic panels, establishes group gardens and recycles waste to make libraries carbon impartial.
An enormous digitization undertaking has additionally preserved tens of 1000’s of pictures, newspapers and authorities paperwork on the McMillan library relationship way back to the 1800s. E book Bunk additionally partnered with the Nest, a Kenyan inventive collective, to curate an exhibition from English and Kiswahili newspaper archives from the years 1963, when Kenya grew to become unbiased, 1973 and 1983.
And there’s nonetheless a lot work to do to revive the McMillan Memorial Library. The group is elevating $6 million to assist restore the constructing and preserve it for 2 years after it opens. McMillan is the one constructing in Kenya protected by an act of Parliament, and renovation plans should undergo strict approval measures spearheaded by Kenya’s nationwide museum.
Earlier than that, Wachuka additionally mentioned public hearings can be held to ask Kenyans what design facets they wish to see preserved or added — and whether or not the library’s official title must be modified.
Lola Shoneyin, the Nigerian novelist who delivered the keynote speech on the fund-raising gala, mentioned that the work being finished now could be for the good thing about future generations, who will discover help within the areas they’re creating.
“The work E book Bunk is doing isn’t a dash. It’s not even a marathon. It’s extra of a relay,” Shoneyin, who can also be the organizer of the Ake Arts and E book Competition in Lagos, mentioned in her speech. “For them to win, we should all be ready to take the baton and run with it when the event calls for.”
