HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 1051570,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1051570/?format=api",
"text_counter": 133,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kilifi North, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
"speaker": {
"id": 13373,
"legal_name": "Owen Yaa Baya",
"slug": "owen-yaa-baya"
},
"content": "look at the Smithsonian studies, you will find that the USA made a big leap in economy just because of education. When they conducted studies, they realised that the only difference between them and other countries was because they had invested a lot in education and, therefore, they were able to develop the country faster. So, a library service provides an opportunity for knowledge to be taken to every part of this country. If the KNLS is encouraged, through this Bill, to invest in the arts and sciences, then many children will be able to get knowledge and do very well. I am a good beneficiary of the library system. I went to a primary school where there were no books. There was nothing to read. The KNLS had a mobile library that came to our school once in a week, and we borrowed four to five books to read. We would return the books the next week and borrow others. That service helped a lot of people in my cohort. In every neighbouring school, the mobile library would stop by and drop books. This helped many children, because we were in a poor set up. Because of KNLS, we were able to get books that we would not have got anywhere else. So when I see their building in Upper Hill, I remember that it is what made me who I am in many ways. Many children now miss that. There are places, like in Turkana, where children have never read a story book. They have never seen science fiction or those many series that are available. If the KNLS sets pitch there, you will see a whole world of difference in terms of education competencies and outcomes. A library is also a repository of knowledge. Many of our universities are unable to be repositories of knowledge and research because they do not have the system enabled. I am a member of several libraries where I can access papers and information. That is what we need. There is a lot of research that has been done in this country on our culture, science and a lot of other things, but there is nowhere to store them. You store them physically and after one year, they have all been ripped apart by rats and other animals. If we have a proper library system with a proper national repository, we will be able to retrieve a lot of information that can be useful. A lot of research is done in our universities, but it does not help many people because it is not available. We are unable to access knowledge. A library repository will help you to get information about certain things in this country. Sometimes, you get information about this country in another country. When you look for the same information in Kenya, you will not find it. If you go to libraries in other universities, like the Pennsylvania State University, you will find the information there because they have a good repository system which helps to store knowledge for many years. I would encourage the KNLS to develop a national repository so that we are able to access all the researches that have been done in this country. That brings me to innovation. This country has lagged behind in innovation. We have seen a little bit of innovation during the COVID-19 time and young people’s minds have been activated and they have produced many things. However, with libraries, people go there to seek knowledge and look for information. They are able to use that information and knowledge to transform it into an innovative idea that can help this country to move forward. Therefore, for me, using this law that we want to pass in this House to reform the Kenya National Library System and services and ensure that they are accessible, is one big step towards a rejuvenated knowledge economy. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to add that libraries help to spur scholarship. You know there are many people who want to invest in education. They want to become scholars. However, the absence of libraries makes it very difficult to develop sharp and content-based scholars in this country. We have many scholars. I have seen scholars in this country that have used Google to write many of their papers. However, it is also said - and a very popular saying - that “Go to Google you will get a thousand answers to the same question but go to the library and you will get the right answer.” You will get the right answer in the library. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}