Make libraries accessible to all — Dr Florence Plockey
The Accra Technical University Library has celebrated its maiden Library Week Celebration with a series of activities and stressed the need to make libraries accessible to all to ensure an effective reading environment in the country.
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The Liberian at the university, Dr Florence Plockey, who made the call, said libraries were fundamental in one’s academic life, particularly higher education, where knowledge was produced and reproduced.
Event
Dr Plockey made this known at a reading workshop organised by the university library for pupils of Bishop Girls as part of its maiden Library Week Celebration.
Dubbed, “Innovation unleashed, transformative research through exceptional service delivery,” it was to reposition its library services to the community to promote quality teaching and learning.
The celebration, which was targeted primarily at students, included an exhibition, webinar, Quiz, durbar, reading clinic and donation.
Dr Plockey said the exercise was part of the university’s efforts to promote its resources, services and effective use.
“It is part of the university’s mandate to extend its services to the community, to have interaction with the kids, to teach them how to read, to have a feel and yearn for books.
Libraries are for reading and we want to let them know the importance of reading,” she added.
She said the celebration was an opportunity to showcase their resources and services to patrons, the broader community and decision makers to reaffirm their understanding of the important roles that libraries played in building a nation, as well as improving the quality of life of all who used them.
Dr Plocky said it was crucial to make our libraries accessible and able to provide the needed resources to the community, society, faculty members, students, faculty and researchers.
“So, they can come to us, use our services and resources for their research, studies and also to navigate the information pool,” she said.
Rading, she said, granted humans the proclivity to know more and to be abreast of time and to discover everything God had covered.
Dr Plockey therefore appealed to individuals, philanthropists, society members, private partners to help build more libraries for the communities.
Consequently, she urged parents to invest in buying books for their children and encourage them to develop the love for reading and building of their capacities.
Commitment
The Head of Lending Department of the Accra Central Library, Ghana Library Authority, Portia Ageiwaa Appiah, said the authority was committed to promote quality education in the country with a key emphasis on reading and writing.
She said the authority had collaborated with ATU to promote reading habits in young pupils, saying, “We are eager to help our pupils exceed high in their education and help them to reach their life goals.”
“Our doors are always open to volunteers who come to us to partner us to organise such reading exercise.
So we partner these institutions, companies and then we go to schools and communities that do not have libraries to encourage these children to learn,” she said.
She said the authority had made reading more accessible by creating a library app where individuals could get all types of books without having to go to the library, adding, “we’ve also increased our footprints by having more than 50 libraries in Accra and more than 150 libraries in Ghana.”
Appreciation
The Deputy Head of Bishop Girls Basic School, David Asante, who received the team, thanked them for bringing reading to their doorstep.
