How to Build a Library
(Kenya, 103 min.)
Dir. Maia Lekow, Christopher King
Program: World Cinema Documentary Competition
Libraries are important institutions that uplift societies through the sharing of information. Anyone with a library card, often free in most cultures, can gain intellectual wealth regardless of their social or financial standing. At least, that is how it is supposed to be.
In Maia Lekow and Christopher King’s latest documentary How to Build a Library, the line between who is afforded the right to access knowledge is divided by political red tape. At the centre of Lekow and King’s engaging film are the founders of Book Bunk, Shiro Koinange and Angela Wachuka, an organization dedicated to restoring three of Nairobi’s most iconic public libraries (the large central McMillan Memorial Library and the smaller satellites Eastlands Library and Kaloleni Library). Understanding literature’s power to build community and foster personal growth, the women have made the revitalization projects their full-time jobs. However, it will take more than a facelift for the libraries to truly have an impact on Kenyan society. They will need to change people’s minds at all levels as well.
Moving the mindset of those whose feet are stuck in the cement of the past is one of the many obstacles that Koinange and Wachuka must overcome during the course of the film. Commencing the project in 2017, the pair quickly realize that even simplest things, such as decluttering rooms filled to the brim with broken bookshelves, chairs, and random pieces of wood that may have once been desks, will take ten times longer to achieve when the city government is involved.
The snail-like pace at which city officials operate becomes increasingly stressful for Koinange and Wachuka when they attempt to get an extension on their five-year renovation contract. Considering that it took over a year to secure the baseline funding, not to mention the amount of work that the McMillan Library needs, securing a deal that will provide both time and additional stable funding is of the upmost importance for the women. Unfortunately, their sense of urgency does not seem to translate to a governing body that seems more concerned with whether a governor is invited to one of Book Bunk’s fundraising galas.
As the women note in the film, it is very challenging to deal with a city government that seems to only have its own interests at heart. Believing that nothing is done without some financial or political gain, those in power view the women’s ventures with great skepticism. Sadly, governments who only seem to work for a select few is nothing new for the region. One needs to look no further than the McMillan Library itself.
Built in 1931 by British-American settlers, the McMillan was an intellectual space designed for whites only. It took 27-years before Black people were allowed to grace its doors, and its colonial imprint is still felt today. In cataloguing the existing works at the library, Koinange and Wachuka must confront the fact that were are no works by African writers. Furthermore, the Dewey Decimal system that libraries worldwide have been using since 1876 reduces the various languages across Africa to one classification, which ultimately raises the difficult question of how one decolonizes an institution while still relying on the tools of the colonizer.
In pondering whether there are bolt cutters strong enough to cut colonial chains, How to Build a Library forces audiences to reflect on the uncomfortable ways the past and present continue to be intertwined. Koinange and Wachuka frequently wrestle with how much of the colonial infrastructures must be allowed to remain. On one hand, they don’t like the idea of being used for a photo-op when King Charles III pays a visit to Kenya, but they also recognize that the British Council is one of their funding partners. Even their staff, which is comprised of veteran librarians and newly trained ones, seem divided when it comes to keeping everything that is old and changing certain things to reflect modern times.
Choosing between the path of necessity and the path of righteousness becomes even more daunting when one factoring in the tight timeframes Koinange and Wachuka are working with. Once bright-eyed and optimistic, Lekow and King document the physical and emotional toll the projects have taken on the women. As tensions rise, and various mistakes need to be navigated, it is becomes clear that their friendship will never be the same again. Driving by a shared goal, the pair refuse to throw the in towel no matter how many lumps they take in the governmental ring.
Koinange and Wachuka’s determination to protect the libraries at all costs is inspiring to observe. Through the women’s relentless drive, How to Build a Library reminds viewers how vital it is to have a place that houses ideas, history, dreams, and more which provide the tools to free community from oppressive states. A captivating tale of perseverance in the face of adversities, Lekow and King’s film captures why we need libraries now more than ever.
How to Build a Library premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.
Read more about the film in our interview with Maia Lekow and Christopher King.
