The Rotary Club of Suna, Migori County has donated more than 30,000 books to support the establishment of the first-ever public library in Migori town.
The donation includes 30,000 international books and 500 locally published books under a partnership agreement between the club and the Migori County Government.
Speaking after the official handover ceremony at the County’s Musomi offices, the club’s President George Orinda said the initiative is aimed at improving literacy levels and promoting a reading culture among residents.
“Our donor partner abroad saw it wise to offer financial assistance to the County Government of Migori to facilitate the opening of the first public library within Migori town to help locals with a free resource centre,” said Orinda.
He explained that the donation package would also include the purchase of computers, installation of internet services for digital book circulation, fitting of modern bookshelves and training of librarians at a total cost of Ksh4.5 million.
Orinda expressed concern over what he described as a declining reading culture in the country, saying many people were spending excessive time on social media platforms instead of reading books.
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“It is very unfortunate that the people of Migori and the entire country are nurturing a disturbing poor reading culture and instead are spending much of their time on social media platforms at the expense of acquiring knowledge from books,” he said.
He noted that the partnership with the Migori County Government is expected to rekindle interest in reading and create a reliable learning resource centre for the community.
Under the agreement, the Rotary Club of Suna Migori will stock the library with books, digitize the facility and train librarians, while the county government under Governor Ochilo Ayacko will provide a building, purchase furniture and establish sustainability mechanisms for the facility.
Orinda said the process of procuring computers and training personnel was already underway, adding that the library is expected to be officially launched in July.
Migori County Chief Officer in charge of Gender, Inclusivity, Culture and Social Services Rose Ogwang lauded the initiative, describing it as a major milestone in advancing literacy and education in the county.
“The establishment of this library in Migori town will open access to learning materials to more people in the region since the entire county currently has only one public library located in Awendo town,” said Prof. Ogwang.
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She added that Migori town’s central location would make the facility easily accessible to residents from Kuria and the larger Nyatike region.
According to Ogwang, the county’s reading culture remains below 50 percent, a situation she linked to the persistence of some harmful cultural practices and limited access to educational materials.
“As the county looks forward to the official opening of the library in July this year, learners, researchers, writers and the general public remain optimistic about accessing a large pool of resource materials because the library will be linked remotely to the Kenya National Library Service,” she said.
Residents and education stakeholders have welcomed the initiative, expressing optimism that the facility will improve literacy levels, support research and create a stronger culture of reading among young people and the wider community.
By Kimutai Langat
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