Kairi Reading Contest

Since the Kairi reading contest for primary school students began on November 28th, enthusiasm has literally filled the Kairi Our Reading Spaces shipping container library where more than 80 students come to read daily.

What a wonderful sight to see so many children sitting quietly absorbed in a book. Clearly this reading competition, which runs through December 21st, has proven to be a huge success. We hope that all of these eager learners continue to advance their reading abilities and share the joy, knowledge, and inspirational stories that they read with others today and throughout their lives.

We encourage everyone to share the joy of reading with family and friends.

Kenya National Library (KNLS) Head Librarian Visits ORS Kairi Library

The Kairi Village Our Reading Spaces (ORS) program invited Kenya National Library Services to visit their new library to evaluate the program and recommend required processes or support that the Kenya National Library Services (KNLS) could offer.

On arrival, Naomi the Our Reading Spaces librarian was found arranging and sorting books to keep the track/record of the books. Miriam, the KNLS Head Librarian, was amazed to see the large quantity of books available on the shelves, and stunned by the many more books still in boxes. She was also extremely impressed by the QUALITY of the books, some of which she does not have at the Thika library, especially the young children’s books.

At on point, Miriam pleaded with Naomi to allow her to borrow some books for children at her library (Robotic books). Apparently, most KNLS book donations are outdated and that is what the KNLS Librarian expected to find. She was very happy with the selection of the books and looks forward to borrowing some books for Kenya National Library – Thika some day soon.

Recognizing that it may take our Librarian Naomi a year to finish processing the books, the visiting Librarian offered to send two of her KNLS staff members to assist in the process. Extra support will shorten the set up time so that we can now allow the community to borrow books.

While the Kenya National Library Services was happy the ORS progress, we continue to fundraiser for the purchase of an additional containers so that we can create a larger reading space.

by Peter Okeyo

A Dream Come True

I remember watching the container get offloaded, dangling in the air above the many boxes of books below that were waiting to call it home.

The community (young and old) watched patiently as this big red box was slowly lowered and placed on the donated land. Congratulatory words of kindness and appreciation were shouted as the joyful excitement rippled across the waiting community. A new local library was now a dream come true!

Years of planning, praying, and outreach had finally paid off. Bidco Ltd’s amazing shipping container gift helped us to scrap the less desirable plan B, which required distributing the books to all the eight schools instead of uniting the students and community in one central place. Not to mention that the local schools option was very limiting because of restricted hours of operation. There was also the risk of extra work for teachers, who are already overwhelmed with their daily tasks.

A central location to plant our container library was the ideal solution, on a piece of land donated by the community. A new learning destination to visit after school and weekends, for anyone and everyone, was not a reality. A reading haven for the entire community had bloomed in vibrant red. A place for teachers to borrow books for their classes was now nearby. A place for children to read and enjoy storybooks of their choice was here.