(Ecofin Agency) - Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta announced an investment of KSh250 million ($2.3 million) for the construction of a virtual library, which will be an online expansion of the Kenya National Library. The announcement was made on November 13 at the inauguration of the new Maktaba Kuu building that houses the headquarters of the KNLS.

The virtual library, the President of the Republic said, will offer Kenyans access to a wide variety of information housed by the KNLS. It will be launched by June 2021 and will have a capacity of 15 million publications.

“The first phase will digitize 800,000 books, periodicals, research papers, and government publications. It will also contain 600,000 e-books, which are currently accessible offline through e-readers across 63 KNLS branches countrywide,” he said.

The Head of State said that the virtual library - which will be implemented by the Ministry of Sports, Culture, and Heritage, in collaboration with the Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund - marks "an important milestone for us and for the future generations, who stand to benefit from our continued commitment to knowledge and information sharing.”