McMillan Memorial Library, Nairobi, Public library in central Nairobi, Kenya.
McMillan Memorial Library is a public library in central Nairobi, housed in a two-story colonial-style building with granite columns and a marble staircase. The collection covers general reading as well as archival documents and historical records open to the public.
The building opened in 1931, funded through a bequest from the estate of William Northrup McMillan, arranged by his widow after his death. It was set up from the start as a public institution meant to serve the residents of Nairobi.
The library takes its name from William Northrup McMillan, an American landowner who settled in Kenya in the early 1900s. Two stone lions flank the main entrance, a detail that many visitors stop to look at before going inside.
The library sits in central Nairobi and is easy to reach on foot from many parts of the city center. Those who want to use the archive section should plan to arrive earlier in the day, as the reading rooms tend to fill up on weekdays.
Since it opened, the library has been governed by its own dedicated legislation, giving it a legal standing that no other public library in Kenya holds. This means it operates independently from the national library system, which is unusual for a city institution of this kind.
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