Narok library defines William ole Ntimama's legacy

William ole Ntimama. As he is laid to rest today at his Motonyi home, Narok County, one of the legacies he leaves behind is a library he established. (PHOTO: COURTESY)

As former Cabinet Minister William ole Ntimama is laid to rest today at his Motonyi home, Narok County, one of the legacies he leaves behind is a library he established.

Sitting on three acres, the facility run by the Kenya National Library Services (KNLS) is one of Mr Ntimama's efforts to empower his community through education.

Ntimama was an avid reader and had donated over 400 books to the facility.

The books, mostly biographies, autobiographies and literature of renown writers such as Shakespeare, have been kept in a special space baptised Ntimama Corner.

According to Elizabeth Kerubo, a librarian at the facility, Ntimama Corner has been receiving many readers since Ntimama passed away. She said Ntimama donated all the videos, audio clips and newspaper cuttings that he had in his house.

"We have newspaper cuttings of all the stories done on Ntimama by The Standard and The Nation since 1993 till March, 2015. We also have audio clips and videos and the most sought audio is the one on Suswa Declaration," said Ms Kerubo.

The librarian said the facility has really improved the reading culture of the local community and improved the performance of students in schools.

"In honour of the good work done by Ntimama we have been doing outreach programmes to schools with a view of ensuring that local communities embrace education. Ntimama understood that the best way to fight retrogressive cultures was through changing the mindset through education," she said.

The collections at the Ntimama Corner include Nelson Mandela's Conversation With Myself, Anthony Summer's The Kennedy Conspiracy and Immortal Poems edited by Oscar Will.

The facility offers free internet services and about 20 people can browse in one sitting. The library was in 2015 awarded the Systematic Public Library certificate. The same year it was ranked third in the Maktaba Awards.