The business community and public institutions in Nandi County have been advised to instill a reading culture among the locals as a way of discovering new knowledge for development. Josphine Otwori, Nandi County Government Director of Library Services, suggests that both private and public institutions play a critical role in cultivating a reading environment among the Nandi residents. Josphine Otwori, Nandi County Director of Library Services. Otwori noted that the business community, state, and non-state bodies should come out and put resources in defined public libraries as a sure way of building an informed society. According to the director, managing 21st century challenges and building resilient future communities will be realised if only the current generation develops a high ‘appetite’ for knowledge through reading books. She said that this information age calls for parents, governments, and the private sector to bring up children who are thirsty for books and recognise the power of technology in driving economies. Otwori regretted that some parents, schools, and even institutions in Nandi aren’t aware of the work of a public library. She said the importance of a public library will be fully exploited if all key stakeholders decide to talk about books, buy books, and support libraries even at the village level. The director, however, asked parents and guardians to guide their children on the use of digital gadgets. ‘I am aware that without proper guidance, some social media sites can encourage laziness and a non-productive generation,’ Otwori told KNA during an exclusive interview at her office in Kapsabet town. She proposed that modern-built public libraries can be a better place where school-going children and college students can be guided by social media platforms and how they can be used as income-generating sites. Otwori said that modern libraries like Eliud Kipchoge Library in Chesumei can be connected with e-books and how to make use of social media sites to generate income among the jobless youths. She advised parents and guardians to cultivate reading traditions among their children as early as possible through buying books while dwelling on how to exploit online reading material in their homes. Otwori expressed confidence that with the now devolved functions of library services to the county governments, much will be done to step up the reading culture among the locals. ‘With the completion of the state-of-the art Eliud Kipchoge Library, Nandi residents are expected to embrace the use of the library in empowering the young generation for the future prosperity of this county,’ Otwori said.
Source: Kenya News Agency