Educationist Solicits Support For National Mobile Library Policy

Mr Abraham Adjetey Sowah, Kwahu South District Director of Education, has called for a broader support for the National Mobile Library Policy towards the transformation of the educational system in the country. He called on teachers, parents, district assemblies, school children and communities to support the implementation of the policy introduced by the Ghana Library Board. Mr Sowah was speaking at the end of a three-day workshop on the national mobile library service under the theme "a responsive national mobile service policy, its impact on basic education," for regional librarians and other workers of the Ghana Library Board, at Mpraeso in the Eastern Region. He observed basic schools and the communities lack adequate libraries and said the re-introduction of the policy could improve teaching and learning at the basic level. Mr Oscar Zando, Eastern Regional Librarian, said there were only 38 community libraries in the region out of which 28 were malfunctioning due to the lack of personnel to man them. He appealed to authorities of the National Youth Employment Programme to absorb salaries of librarians and other personnel manning the community libraries. Nana Onwona Asante, District Chief Executive, said the district with over 160,000 people and 680 communities had only two viable community libraries and called for the establishment of more libraries in the area. Mr Omare Tenkorang, Acting Executive Director of the Ghana Library Board, said 10 mobile vans stocked with assorted books had been dispatched to all the regions in the country to commence operation in two selected districts in each region on pilot basis.