Kenya National Library Services (KNLS), Embu branch, has benefited from a book drive donation from Embu County Professional Development Association (ECPDA) worth Sh300, 000.
Speaking when handing over the 1,000 books to Embu KNLS, Embu County Professional Development Association Chairperson, Edward Kobuthi, said that the need to donate books to KNLS dates back to 2019, when they noted poor performance in local schools.
He said that after realizing there was poor performance in various schools in Embu, ECPDA started to conduct motivational talks in various schools, as well as donating books to schools and at the KNLS, so as to encourage students to study.
Kobuthi added that the professional body wants to create a reading culture in the County, thus the need to donate books to KNLS, where students can walk in to borrow books to read from home or study from the institution.
At the same time, he urged Embu residents to elect leaders who understand the benefits of education, so that they can support the book donation drive from the county level.
A member of ECPDA, Florence Muchiri, said that in the last three years, schools in the County have greatly improved in performance, which is as a result of their continued motivational talks, they conduct in various schools and the students being able to access books to read from KNLS.
Principal, St. Joseph’s High School, Gitibori in Siakago, James Maina and a beneficiary of KNLS Mobile Library said that his students have been able to improve in studies as a result of donors boosting the programme through books donation.
Maina at the same time encouraged the stakeholders who had come to witness donated books being handed over to KNLS, to invest in a reading culture for them to remain young.
“If you don’t want to age, then you must invest in a reading culture and acquiring new knowledge every day,” he said.
While appreciating the ECPDA’s kind gesture, a senior librarian at the Embu KNLS, Phylis Muchoki, said that ECPDA has been a great partner to the institution, since it has enabled them to cover many schools in Embu, Tharaka-Nithi and Kirinyaga counties.
She said a total of 900 primary and secondary schools, have benefitted from KNLS mobile library, resulting in good academic performance in many schools in the three counties.
Furthermore, she said that despite the good academic performance being witnessed in the three counties as a result of KNLS Mobile Library, they are being faced with the challenge of fuel to support the programme.
Muchoki called on well-wishers to join the initiative and support a reading culture in Embu, by emulating the ECPDA book drive donation gesture.
By Justus Anzaya
