The Book Bunk

We build libraries.

My name is Gerrald Gitonga, born and raised in Maringo, Makadara. I have been a library user of the McMillan library- Eastlands Branch in Makadara and also the KNLS library in Buruburu. Currently, I am a student at Egerton University and working toward being a financial auditor. In this work, I have really appreciated the support we have received from everyone - I believe that patience to let everyone learn is what has made us come this far. Because of this work, I now have a deeper appreciation for our history and our struggle for independence. I also now understand the value of taking care of our old books and newspapers at home because you never know what that information will mean tomorrow - this thing is like gold but people don’t know it. I guess something a lot of people might not know about me is that I play football professionally and currently train under the former Harambee Stars coach, Musa Otieno. So, you never know - I might be the next big Kenyan footballer who loves libraries and digitising archives, haha!

📸 by Quaint Photography
📍McMillan Memorial Library, Banda Street

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Since November 2020, we have been digitising archives at the McMillan Memorial Library. We have worked with 14 interns so far to digitise and protect some crucial archives identified as part of our cataloguing process throughout 2019, which created the libraries’ first-ever digital catalogue consisting of 137,705 items. This digitisation project is supported by British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund, and is delivered in partnership with African Digital Heritage and BESIC Group Ltd. We celebrate all the great people who are making this work possible - our everyday #NRBLibraries heroes!

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The Book Bunk

My name is Maureen Mumbua and I am an economist and statistics graduate. Before joining Book Bunk, I was doing market research work for organisations. I’ve been part of the whole digitisation process - doing photography, inputting the metadata, essentially the whole shebang. I’m born and raised in Nairobi and it feels great being a part of helping Nairobians access part of this city’s history. In the beginning, there was the challenge of not being sure if this is how the process is, mainly because we were pioneers, but look at us now! We’ve digitised over 20,000 items!
One aspect of this work that has stuck with me is the anger I feel about how much colonialism did a number on us, Kenyans. I don’t want to forget that this actually happened to us, that it trickled down to every part of our lives. For example, I was shocked to learn that schools like Kenya High and Nairobi School were for white settlers only and started during the colonial period. I feel that this work really matters because libraries should be spaces for us to meet and discuss about our country. You see these conversations happening on streets here in Nairobi but we need to have actual spaces designed for us to meet and discuss. I think libraries can provide these spaces.

📸 by Quaint Photography
📍McMillan Memorial Library, Banda Street

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Since November 2020, we have been digitising archives at the McMillan Memorial Library. We have worked with 14 interns so far to digitise and protect some crucial archives identified as part of our cataloguing process throughout 2019, which created the libraries’ first-ever digital catalogue consisting of 137,705 items. This digitisation project is supported by British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund, and is delivered in partnership with African Digital Heritage and BESIC Group Ltd. We celebrate all the great people who are making this work possible - our everyday #NRBLibraries heroes!

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The Book Bunk

I am Dennis Muraguri with a background in Cybersecurity and IT. I had never been inside this library before and always assumed that it was barred from public access, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that we would be working here. As someone working in IT, I was really looking forward to working with data when I joined the research and inventory team, and this has been one of the most exciting things about this job. One thing that caught my eye during this work was finding early 1900s newspaper collections. It was really interesting seeing this collection while also encountering controversial material, for example, one newspaper cover I found had the picture of a white man in black face and the story was based on his work going undercover to infiltrate the Mau Mau! The article also referred to the Mau Mau as terrorists -which is not how we remember them. Despite it’s controversy, I think it’s important to archive it because it still forms the makeup of our country’s history. I think I would rank uncovering this information as the second most exciting thing about this job (the most exciting part for me will always be the data!). It’s really cool that we are making these valuable hidden treasures publicly available and that is important.
📸 @maina_muraguri4 by Quaint Photography
📍McMillan Memorial Library, Banda Street

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Since November 2020, we have been digitising archives at the McMillan Memorial Library. We have worked with 14 interns so far to digitise and protect some crucial archives identified as part of our cataloguing process throughout 2019, which created the libraries’ first-ever digital catalogue consisting of 137,705 items. This digitisation project is supported by British Council ’s Cultural Protection Fund, and is delivered in partnership with African Digital Heritage and BESIC Group Ltd. We celebrate all the great people who are making this work possible - our everyday #NRBLibraries heroes!

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The Book Bunk

My name is Brandon Orwa Odoyo, born and bred in Embakasi, Nairobi. I am a research and inventory intern but initially joined Book Bunk to help in research and fact-checking for the podcast - A Palace for the People. I consider this digitisation work important because of the times we are in and how it is changing. Covid-19, for example, has completely shifted our perception on how we imagine work and it makes you wonder what will still be accessible 10 or 15 years from now. I think it’s vital we protect this history and it’s integrity, or it could end up reading like fiction. I look forward to these libraries also becoming spaces for creatives to be inspired. I know the realities of Kenyan life make it hard for us to pursue our creative passions. Personally, I used to play the trumpet and football but stopped because of life’s expectations. I wish there were more spaces to pursue some of these passions, you know? That it would be possible for me to wake up in the morning and go perform at the orchestra then afterwards spend some time doing art and lastly go play football, in between doing my day job. But we can start small, so my hope is these libraries give us room to reclaim our creative sides and our identity - this is why I am happy to be a part of this journey.

📸 @_rastatoullie_ by Quaint Photography
📍McMillan Memorial Library, Banda Street

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Since November 2020, we have been digitising archives at the McMillan Memorial Library. We have worked with 14 interns so far to digitise and protect some crucial archives identified as part of our cataloguing process throughout 2019, which created the libraries’ first-ever digital catalogue consisting of 137,705 items. This digitisation project is supported by British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund, and is delivered in partnership with Africa Digital Heritage and BESIC Group Ltd. We celebrate all the great people who are making this work possible - our everyday #NRBLibraries heroes!

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The Book Bunk

My name is Lavin Adhiambo Atieno and I am studying to be an accountant. I have been a user of the McMillan Library for the longest time and even borrowed books from this library. Here at Book Bunk, I am a research intern and I have been taking photos for this digitisation project. I had never done photography before but I have come to really enjoy it. Working on this project has given me a deep appreciation and understanding of our country’s history and the steps we have taken as Kenya. For example, while looking through these archives, I was surprised that we had a Governor who was not Kenyan - which does not make sense. I hope that this work continues and more Kenyans get the chance to learn about our country’s history.

📸 by Quaint Photography
📍McMillan Memorial Library, Banda Street

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Since November 2020, we have been digitising archives at the McMillan Memorial Library. We have worked with 14 interns so far to digitise and protect some crucial archives identified as part of our cataloguing process throughout 2019, which created the libraries’ first-ever digital catalogue consisting of 137,705 items. This digitisation project is supported by British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund, and is delivered in partnership with Africa Digital Heritage and BESIC Group Ltd. We celebrate all the great people who are making this work possible - our everyday #NRBLibraries heroes!

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The Book Bunk

Hey, I’m Namanda Dennis and I studied Informational Studies and Library Science. I joined Book Bunk as an inventory intern and have been part of digitising these important archives. I enjoy organising events and have a clothing brand - Naltanfashion. I was really surprised by how interesting the digitisation process has been and also finding really old materials and archives in this library. For example, I found an intact copy of the Kenya gazette of 1932, which is really cool! What comes to mind when I think about this moment years later is how it all began and how no one had an idea what we were trying to do. I will also look back and hope that people will know what this library was like before Book Bunk came in. One pro-tip I’ve learnt through this process is; if you want to run something don’t add hierarchies but instead choose to work as a team.

📸 Naltan_empire by Quaint Photography
📍McMillan Memorial Library, Banda Street

********
Since November 2020, we have been digitising archives at the McMillan Memorial Library. We have worked with 14 interns so far to digitise and protect some crucial archives identified as part of our cataloguing process throughout 2019, which created the libraries’ first-ever digital catalogue consisting of 137,705 items. This digitisation project is supported by British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund, and is delivered in partnership with Africa Digital Heritage and BESIC Group Ltd. We celebrate all the great people who are making this work possible - our everyday #NRBLibraries heroes!

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The Book Bunk

We build libraries.

Drama takes over the town, starting at McMillan Library