The Board Chair for the Ghana Library Authority (GhLA), Dr. Helena Asamoah-Hassan, has said the Authority now has almost 200 libraries to its credit from a little over 60 in 2016, in an effort to boost reading and learning among the populace.
According to her, GhLA did not function properly to meet the needs of Ghanaians. She told the B&FT that the libraries are well-equipped with enough books and include computers to aid in digital reading, in line with her outfit’s theme for 2023, ‘Year of digital reading’, with the tagline ‘Digital reading, a springboard to eradicating learning poverty’.
“We have been able to move out and now we have a lot of books coming in; we work with Book Aid International, which ships books to us and we share them with our various libraries across the country. We had about 62 libraries as at 2016, but now we have almost 200 libraries countrywide. Some communities build libraries and hand them over for us to run. If you go to the Effutu area in Central Region, the Member of Parliament has built several libraries and handed them over to us,” she said.
“This year is the year of digital reading. We are looking at books and electronic materials. We have provided a lot of books and also computers so that people can read electronically. When the libraries went down, it was because we were not replenishing the stock – books were out-of-date. People were not patronising the libraries. Since 2017, a lot of emphasis has been put on the libraries and getting new staff. We have been able to get a lot of organisations all over the world that are supporting us with materials,” she said.
Dr. Asamoah-Hassan explained that patronage at the various libraries is quite encouraging, and further called on the general public to frequent the facilities for an exciting range of books and informative materials.
“We are doing quite well, and lots of people are visiting our facilities now. We need to read to have knowledge. Knowledge is hidden in books, so it is important that we read. Education is key and nobody can take it from you. If you read and get your certificates, it will help you have access to jobs worldwide,” she added.
