Independence in Kenya and the Lost Opportunity to Build a People Orientated Library Service

From the abstract
The article examines a report by an expatriate librarian on the library scene in East Africa in the 1950s and 1960s. According to the author, the report misses the climate of change that was sweeping the East Africa at the time.

The author provides an alternative interpretation of the struggle for a relevant information service in Kenya, linking it with the political and social struggles. She asserts that the opportunity for making fundamental changes was lost. Instead of challenging the basis on which library services was built, information workers allowed themselves to be manipulated into making cosmetic changes. The classes which were served by the colonial library service continued to be served after independence. The experiences, the cultures, the very language of working people remained outside the walls of library buildings. The struggle for an information system which serves the needs of all continues today.

Contents include:

• Kenyan context
• Political scene
• Ideological struggle
• Information scene
• The situation at independence and after.

This report concludes by stating that the struggle for a relevant information service is intimately linked with the political struggles of the people for organising a society that ensures that material, social, cultural and political interests of the people are met. The struggle on the information front cannot be separated from this larger social struggle. At the same time the triumphs in the information field strengthen the people's forces in the other fields as well. The final victory in one field is dependent on and in turn influences victory in other fields. It is thus important that information workers do not isolate themselves from the broader social struggles taking place in their societies. In order to be a good information worker, one must first be a good fighter on the side of people in the class struggle.

The lessons to be learnt from the experience in the colonial and post-colonial struggles against imperialism are of practical interest not only to the present generation of library workers in Kenya and East Africa. It is of crucial importance in countries such as South Africa which are embarking on the path of freedom after years of suppression.

To request the full document in Word format, contact Shiraz Durrani.