Rebuilding Public Libraries: A Documentary on Kenyan Women’s Efforts

The documentary *How to Build a Library*, directed by Maia Lekow and Christopher King, chronicles the efforts of two Kenyan women, Koinange and Wachuka, to rehabilitate public libraries in Kenya. Their work highlights the challenges posed by bureaucratic obstacles, gendered expectations, and the deterioration of public institutions, while advocating for libraries as vital spaces for imagination and civic engagement.

The Conversation

The film opens in Nairobi, showcasing the city’s library network as underfunded and neglected. Koinange and Wachuka left their corporate jobs in 2017 to establish the non-profit organization Book Bunk, aiming to restore public libraries. The documentary focuses on the McMillan Memorial Library, a historically significant building established in 1931, which has fallen into disrepair and symbolizes the broader neglect of public libraries across Africa. These institutions have suffered from chronic underfunding and policy neglect, often serving as mere symbols rather than functional civic spaces.

The Conversation

The documentary portrays the complexities of rehabilitating the McMillan Library, which serves as both a protagonist and antagonist in the narrative. Koinange and Wachuka's mission raises critical questions about ownership and authority over public heritage. Their journey involves navigating a web of interests that often prioritize the library as a monument rather than a community resource. The film captures their frustrations with indifferent officials and the tension between idealism and pragmatism, emphasizing the slow, often invisible work that sustains a society's intellectual life.

The Conversation

Throughout the film, the act of rebuilding libraries serves as a metaphor for a broader cultural project. Koinange and Wachuka’s efforts to repair physical spaces reflect a desire to restore the library's role as a civic institution and a repository of collective memory. The documentary subtly incorporates feminist themes, contrasting the women’s collaborative approach with the predominantly male power structures they encounter. Their emphasis on dialogue and community engagement challenges traditional notions of leadership and cultural infrastructure.

The Conversation

By the film's conclusion, the future of the McMillan Library remains uncertain, symbolizing the ongoing struggle for public libraries in Kenya. However, *How to Build a Library* resists despair, instead finding meaning in the process of rebuilding. It posits that creating a library transcends physical construction; it involves fostering dialogue and nurturing citizenship. The film underscores the importance of libraries as democratic spaces that allow for communal gathering without barriers, suggesting that the act of building a library is inherently tied to envisioning a shared future.

The Conversation

• “Their insistence on dialogue, collaboration and community foregrounds a different mode of leadership, one rooted not in authority but in empathy.” — Christopher King, Director

The Conversation

• “To build a library, the film suggests, is to build a future, one in which knowledge, however precariously, remains a shared inheritance.” — Koinange and Wachuka, Protagonists

The Conversation

*How to Build a Library* is currently screening in select cinemas in Nairobi and at film festivals worldwide, continuing to inspire conversations about the role of public libraries in society.

The Conversation