Education

Ghana Library Authority Year of Reading Launched

The Government of Ghana in collaboration with the Ghana Library Authority has launched the 2019 year of reading campaign here in Accra under the theme “Reading for Progress”.

The guest of honour H.E Mrs. Rebecca Akuffo Addo, First lady of the republic of Ghana.

Screenshot 16 — First Lady in a chat with other participants at the event

The launched which was held that the Forecourt of the Ghana Library authority drew pupils, students and teachers from both public and private educational institutions at all levels of education.

The reading for progress project according to the Ghana Library Authority is geared strategically toward the development of reading habits at all levels of education to help improve literacy levels of Ghanaians and reignite the passion of Ghana for literature. This focus places more emphasis on improving reading habits among children and adolescents. The authority hopes to promote lifelong learning and literacy through the project.

Screenshot 14 — Reading for Progress participants examining books on display at the exhibition centre

To further whip up interest in reading among children and adolescents in basic and second cycle institutions, the authority would embark on other activities such as book of the year competition, long vacation reading or six book challenge as well as National reading competition.

Workshops would also be organized for publishers, writers and reading promotion organizations in the country to help the GHLA achieve its goals for the year and beyond.

The reading for progress camping is an initiative of the Ghana Library Authority, with support from the Ministry of Education and other partners.

At the event, over 30,000 books donated by the BOOK Aid International to the Ghana Library Authority was unveiled. The authority also opened a new book processing unit as well as its new acquisition and distribution units to help it realize its mandate to the people of Ghana.

The popular Mobile Library services which the authority delivers through mobile vans was also launched to create awareness about the service and its benefit to schools.

Screenshot 15 — Books on exhibition at the Read for Progress Launch

The first lady, delivering her speech at the event encouraged children to take reading seriously. School children recited poems at the event to drive home the reasons why Ghanaians must embrace reading and cultivate the habit.

The GHLA has the following objectives for the year

Promote literacy and lifelong learning
Introduce new access points for the public to engage the GHLA libraries
Improve the book collection processes of the authority
Increase access to reading materials.
Create an enabling and more conducive environment for learning across the rest of library networks.

Statistics by the GHLA revealed that, the number of users of its devices increased by 70% in the year 2018 whiles books borrowed also increased by 68.7% in the same year as a result of a 44.43% increase in total members.

Related stories