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Huawei injects life into Accra Central Library

Parts of the Accra Central Library of the Ghana Library Authority (GLA) is undergoing a massive facelift to enable it to render optimal services to its patrons.

The rehabilitation work covers painting, replacement of furniture, re-tiling and ceiling, laying of cables and the installation of networking equipment and air conditioners.

Sections being rehabilitated are the Lending and Reference Libraries, as well as the computer room.

The work, which is being financed by Huawei Technologies (GH) S.A Ltd, a global information and communication technology (ICT) solutions provider, is estimated to cost GH¢400,000.

Apart from the rehabilitation works, the company has pledged to provide 30 computers and furniture to furnish the ICT laboratory (Lab).

The decision of the company to undertake the rehabilitation works on the library, which incidentally houses the headquarters of the GLA, follows a Daily Graphic report of the sorrowful state of libraries in the country.

The rehabilitation exercise, which will give the library a new look, started in June this year and is expected to be completed by the end of October, 2014.

 

Timeliness

The Acting (Ag) Executive Director of GLA, Mr Adjei Apenten, who conducted the Daily Graphic round the project, said the support from Huawei was timely because it came at the time when the facility was completely distressed.

He was grateful to the company for taking up the complete rehabilitation of the ICT laboratory and pledging to equip it with 30 computers and other ICT materials to help educate the public on how to access information on the Internet.

Mr Apenten commended the Daily Graphic, “for bringing our plight to the attention of Huawei for them to initate this work.” 

He said the ICT lab was dear to his heart because it was being used as an ICT centre for public basic schools around the Accra central area free of charge, adding that, “our main job is to organise the community and make information available to them.

 

Dream for the library

Mr Apenten said his dream was to see the library automated but because of lack of funds,they were doing it ‘’bit by bit” and explained that after the current rehabilitation work, its focus would be on securing a server to make the Internet to work well.

He mentioned the beneficiary schools as the Independence Avenue ‘1’ & ‘2’, Odartey Lamptey School, Bishop’s Boys Basic School, AMA Zion School at Mamprobi. There will also be ICT classes for adults.

The Library Assistant and ICT Officer, Mr Jacobson Cudjoe, who accompanied the Ag Executive Director, said the ICT lab, when completed, could accommodate a maximum of 60 computers and appealed to the public for more support to stock the laboratory.

 

Why the collaboration?

Explaining why his company decided to support the library, the Public Relations Manager of Huawei Technologies (GH) S.A Ltd, Mr Gideon Obeng, said that since 2009, the company had been contributing to the society where it operated.

“We realised that the library was in need of renovation and once it falls within our social corporate objectives which are education, health, environmental protection and bridging the data divide, we decided to assist it,” he explained.

 

Support from Huawei

Mr Obeng further explained that more attention was focused on the computer room because it was in a bad shape with the roof leaking, “So we have to bring down the ceiling and  redo it altogether. We are also providing networking equipment, switches, routers and 24Urack to house the equipment.”

He said the reason for the rehabilitation works was to spread  its corporate responsibility, adding for instance that, since 2009, the company had donated computer  laboratories to four universities in the country,  and made donation to the 37 Military Hospital and Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

 

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