"Down a steep, narrow staircase, the basement of the McMillan Memorial Library in Nairobi holds more than 100 enormous, dust-covered bound volumes of newspapers. Here too are the minutes of council meetings and photographic negatives going back more than a century. Here lie some of the minute-by-minute recorded debates from the time British colonial powers ruled Nairobi, when it was a segregated city, says Angela Wachuka, a publisher. Seconds later, a power cut plunges the room into darkness."
"The only building in Kenya protected by an act of parliament, the library has colonial roots, built by Lucie McMillan in memory of her husband, Sir William Northrup McMillan, an American-born settler. It was inaugurated in 1931 as a whites-only space, the racial segregation continuing until 1958, when the city council took over its management. The building inspired Wachuka and Koinange to found Book Bunk, a project dedicated to restoring neglected libraries."
More than 100 enormous, dust-covered bound volumes of newspapers, council minutes and photographic negatives dating back over a century are stored in the McMillan Memorial Library basement. Power cuts and disrepair persist in the building. The McMillan library, protected by an act of parliament, was built by Lucie McMillan and opened in 1931 as a whites-only space, with racial segregation continuing until 1958. Angela Wachuka and Wanjiru Koinange founded Book Bunk to restore neglected libraries and strengthen African collections. A documentary, How to Build a Library, follows their efforts restoring McMillan and other Nairobi libraries while confronting bureaucratic and financial obstacles.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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