Reading Culture in Kenya

Reading or the lack of it is one of the most serious problems facing the book industry in Kenya today. It is widely believed in Kenya and abroad that Africans do not read books beyond the classroom and when they finish their education, they do not read for pleasure. One only needs to take a closer look at the history of education in Kenya to appreciate the present sad state of affairs.

The missionaries brought education, with the books as its instrument to this country Kenya. They forced people to go to school and to read books (mostly the religious ones), which they felt, were good for them. Reading and religion were sold as a package. In order for the promotion of reading, those who read the bible were induced with promises and material and spiritual rewards, a good job a prestige financial gain and a comfortable life. In the end those who attained these rewards stopped reading because there was no more to read for and those who didn’t attain them stopped reading in frustration. As a result, most communities considered books as foreign, alien and difficult things. They derived more pleasure and communication more easily through the oral and performing arts-taking, singing, dancing, music and drama. Communication with books was a private experience and people always preferred to share in communal activities in which one gives as much as one takes. Communication through books was one process that was considered idle and busy.

The emphasis of the establishment of a reading culture in Kenya is not a new concept. Various activities and programmes have been in the forefront trying to promote the habit since the beginning of the 20^th century. For instance, many scholars, NGO’s, publishers, book industries, International bodies, such as United Nations, have kept on from as early as the 1980’s insisting on the development of a reading culture in Kenya and the world at large. Kenya National Library Service Board Act Chapter 225 of 1986 states that one of its prime functions is to stimulate public interest in books and promote reading for knowledge, information and enjoyment, (KNLS Strategic plan (2000). The other body that is aggressively trying to promote a reading culture is the National Book Development Council of Kenya, which works in collaboration with other bodies.

By: Fredrick Otike