Efforts are being made to revamp libraries in the country as well as increase the reading habit of the Ghanaian child.
As part of this, the Ghana Library Authority (GhLA) is rolling out a number of initiatives to make 2019, a year of progressive reading by constructing more libraries, refurbishing and restocking existing ones with new books.
The 30 million Ghanaian people rely on only 61 libraries in the country, giving rise to what stakeholders say is the falling standards of education despite technological advancements.
[contextly_sidebar id=”qObdqVt5bTTelyvXz0A0lkpQmkXCFdwR”]But, the acting Executive Director of the Authority, Hayford Siaw, has said plans are far advanced to among other things commission a children’s library, construct 13 new libraries and re-launch the mobile library.
Speaking to Citi News on the sidelines of a Kidi Fair to mark World Book Day, Mr. Siaw indicated that the move is expected to radically improve literacy and development outcomes aimed at transforming lives and communities.
“This year we will also be launching our digital portal. So very soon Ghanaians will be borrowing books online. Also, 15 existing libraries are going to get a facelift. We are increasing the number of books we have to 100,000. We want to increase the number of people who visit our libraries because the problem that we have is that, a lot of children in lower primary to read – which is not good. So, we see this as major challenge that we have,” Mr. Siaw said.
Support from Book Aid
Book Aid International is supporting the celebration with 100,000 books.
Already, 30,000 of the books have been distributed to the libraries dotted across the length and breadth of the country.
Head of Communications at Book Aid, Emma Taylor was excited for contributing to a worthy cause.
She thus encouraged young people to develop the habit of reading in order for them to be creative and innovative.
“It seems to me that the children are hungry to read now that they have new books so they want to read more. I urge them to read a lot. They should anything they lay their hands on because books are made up of new ideas.”
About GhLA’s 2019 Year of reading
Ghana Library Authority is the country’s leading knowledge services hub which connects the citizenry to knowledge resources.
Under the theme ‘Reading for Progress’, the objectives of the yearlong celebration include promoting literacy and life-long learning, introducing new access points for the public to engage with libraries as well as create and enable more conducive environment for learning.
The year of reading is also expected to improve book collection and increase accessibility to reading materials through technology.
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By: Nii Larte Lartey| citinewsroom.com|Ghana|nlartelartey@gmail.com
