The Kericho County government has embarked on a Sh 10 million revamping of the Kericho Kenya National Library Service (KNLS) facility that will cater to the information needs of its users through modern ICT technologies.
The County Governor Dr. Eric Mutai revealed this during an inspection tour of the ongoing renovations at Kericho KNLS facility, whose functions have ceded to the county administration.
“Currently we are doing a Sh10million renovation for the last financial year,” said Dr. Mutai.
The governor noted that some of the envisioned activities to be done, when revamping the library include provision of digital content to readers through various platforms like e-books, e-journals, e-magazines, a state of the art resource center, with designated sections tailored for children, youth and adults, as well as a variety of reading materials for various categories of learners.
“Going forward we want to digitize the space of learning, so that we are able to procure e-books, e-magazines in order to provide contemporary thoughts in different learning spaces.
This will help the university students, scholars and different researchers to be able to utilize what is being provided in this library. In the next few months we shall have computers and connect them to the digital superhighway.
The library will be equipped with modern sitting facilities, modern user friendly chairs and tables for early childhood development education (ECDE) learners, with relevant competency based curriculum (CBC) books, well equipping with their playing tools.
At the same time modern washrooms will be constructed for this library. Kericho KNLS library will have an aura of academic space,” said Dr. Mutai.
The governor said the county government was committed to ensuring university students are given the necessary assistance in their research, as the Kericho KNLS library will be equipped with adequate resources fit for their projects, complete with a team of well trained staff ready to serve them resourcefully.
The ongoing renovation of the 43-year- old Kericho KNLS, located along the Kericho-Kisumu highway opposite the Kericho Green Square Mall, is earmarked for completion within the next one month, upon which the envisaged modern facility will accommodate around 6,000 daily users, up from the current 3,000.
Also present during the tour was the County Executive for Education, Culture, Libraries and Social services Joan Chirchir, the department’s Chief Officer Richard Tonui, Kericho KNLS library administrator Rose Kendagor, among other staff members.
By Sarah Njagi
