Centuries more for

Nairobi’s oldest library

This is McMillan Memorial Library today. With your support, we can restore it!

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Meet Book Bunk

Imagining the future of McMillan Memorial Library

In 2018, we partnered with Nairobi City County to restore three public libraries: McMillan Memorial, Eastlands, and Kaloleni. Our work spans fundraising, architectural restoration, library management, and the design of arts and skills-based community programmes.

We create spaces where dreams for libraries come alive.

Architectural Restoration: Honouring history while building vibrant spaces.
Book Bunk has restored two iconic public libraries Kaloleni Library & Eastlands Library. We oversee renovations that honour their history while creating vibrant, welcoming spaces for surrounding communities.
Next Restoration Project
Community Engagement: Creating inclusive spaces for learning and connection.
Book Bunk is transforming what happens in libraries, turning them into inclusive spaces for learning, creativity, and wellbeing. Our programmes invite Nairobi residents to access knowledge, celebrate art, and connect with their community.
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Collections Management: Preserving the old, making room for the new.
Book Bunk safeguards the collections of McMillan Memorial, Eastlands, and Kaloleni Libraries. We digitise rare volumes, preserve physical books, and acquire new titles to enrich restored libraries for today’s communities.
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Some Exciting Updates

Kenya Premiere: How to Build a Library

We’re thrilled to announce the Kenya premiere of How to Build a Library at the NBO Film Festival! Directed by Maia Lekow and Christopher King, the documentary follows Book Bunk’s eight-year journey restoring Nairobi’s public libraries, exploring themes of cultural renaissance, African women’s resilience, and the reclamation of space and history by local communities.

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Mapping Kenya’s public library ecosystem for the first time

What makes a library ecosystem thrive? Since 2020, Book Bunk has been exploring this question across Kenya’s public libraries. The result is a national research report and an interactive map that capture the stories, challenges, and opportunities shaping our libraries.

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New season of A Palace for the People
And it’s all about protest and resistance…

A year after Kenya’s pivotal June 25th protests, Season 3 of our podcast explores powerful stories of protest and resistance drawn from McMillan Memorial Library’s rich archives. Researched and reported by our digitisation team, these episodes uncover how ordinary Kenyans, from students and farmers to women and clergy, have always challenged systems of power.

Episode Guide

It takes a village...

We are grateful for the partners and funders who make this work possible.