Renowned author Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s image takes up a prime spot at the entrance of the library, surrounded by Wangari Maathai, Mekatilili wa Menza, Koitalel arap Samoei and other heroes that are immortalised in sculpture.
“We wanted to ensure everyone who walks in here gets a story they can resonate with,” said Timothy Mahea, head of marketing at Kenya National Library Service (KNLS).
The modernising of Kenya’s national library has been in works for a long time. It is a journey that started in 1965 when the library was a temporary wooden structure next to prison headquarters that housed a few books that mainly catered for institutions of higher learning.