For a country whose 1.13 million children of primary school age are out of school according to a 2021 Out-of-School Children report by UNICEF, initiatives aimed at keeping the children in school are always a source of inspiration.
More inspiring are such stories, especially when they happen in slums where a life of crime, drug addiction and other social ills awaits school dropouts at such a tender age.
This is why the story of The Smallest Library in Africa is extremely inspiring considering the impact it has had on the local community by helping many pupils move closer to realizing their dreams.
Started in 2014 as an open air makeshift of a library The Smallest Library In Africa is a community library based in informal settlement of Mugure , in Nairobi Kenya.
Mugure is a remote community with a population growth of 4,500 people majority being school going children between 5 and 17 years of age.
The library's founder, Cyril Otieno, was inspired by his own experiences growing up in the slums to come back and change the situation by affording other young Kenyans an opportunity he did not have himself growing up.
“I was brought up in Mugure but I also endured many challenges. I went to schools that did not have adequate resources. My classmates and I had to scramble for things like books," Otieno told Nation in a past interview.
Cyril's economic conditions growing up inspired him to launch the library and the Community Development graduate from the Regional Institute of Business in Nairobi had nothing else on his mind after leaving school but to start the library.
However, it was not an easy start for Otieno as nobody showed up at his library for three days before the numbers started increasing.
The Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) alumni noted that as more people visited the library, he started receiving support from the community.
Today, the library has grown to support over 30 learners from the slum. One of the founding members of the library in 2014 will be among the KCPE candidates sitting her class eight exams this year.
Apart from volunteering at the library, Cyril also works part time as an online writer.
