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{
    "id": 1483184,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1483184/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 348,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) Ojiambo Oundo",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Speaker, as we stand here today, it would seem so many things are changing. I also echo the sentiments of my colleagues and the Minority Whip. Some of us are still stuck in the traditional days. I am unable to read any document in soft copy. I prefer to have the hard copy so that I can read and feel; and cross-referencing is far much better. However, we must be aware of the fact that things have changed. With the virtual libraries, we can literally get all the books we require online. The question we need to keep asking is: Do we still need physical buildings that we used to refer to as libraries? Even when we have libraries, do we need physical texts in those libraries or do we simply need a mainframe, a computer or a screen where somebody can simply access and read books? Hon. Temporary Speaker, I was having a discussion with one young guy who is currently doing his master's degree and he was telling me that there is a platform that you can subscribe for an e-book for several days. Once that period elapses, the book disappears. It is set in a way that you cannot download it, or even screenshot it. We need to move towards that kind of thinking. I hope the new library service that is being proposed here will embrace that new technology. We also have so many community libraries and private libraries that have emerged all over. I have a fairly rich collection of books spanning many generations on very many subjects in my house library. Whenever I am stressed or something like that, I like to just look at them and my stress evaporates. As I have said, we had gone through this Bill and made some amendments. Some of the proposed amendments had been carried, while others had not been approved. Hon. Temporary Speaker, those who were around in the 1980s, after the 1982 coup, would recall that there was a massive crackdown on dissidents and people who needed progressive change. Those people wrote very many wonderful documents, books, journals and newspapers. Now that we have a transformed and a fairly accommodative society, I want to ask the Kenya National Library Service whether it is possible to get those pamphlets and preserve them for historical purposes. We remember Mwakenya, and it is not the ‘mwakenya’ that is now a common practice here in the universities. I remember the writings by Mr. Mwandawiro, Mr. Gitobu Imanyara and the rest that opened up our minds towards intimidation and oppressive leadership that was there then. Therefore, the Kenya National Library Service must document our history. History is cumulative. It is not just the history of migration, colonialism, but a progressive one. We need to document things that made changes in this country. Hon. Temporary Speaker, this Bill has several progressive provisions. I draw the attention of the Chair - and I hope he is still around or it should be on The Hansard - to Clause 6 on the issue of appointment of members of the board. 1(g) talks about two persons to be nominated by the Council of County Governors; and 1(h) talks about one person to be appointed by the Cabinet Secretary. As part of my amendments, I would request that this must be done through a competitive recruitment process. Hon. Temporary Speaker, at the opportune time in the Committee of the whole House, I would also suggest that all public institutions, semi-permanent institutions and private individuals that have libraries that can be accessed by the public, must be members of the Kenya National Library Service. As part of their certification, they must display a certificate to indicate that whatever they have meets the standards that are set out in the Third Schedule. In doing so, we will be able to keep track of quality and the kind of materials that are being exposed. With those many remarks, I support. 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."
}