GLA targets 100,000 readers in Central Region

The Central Regional office of the Ghana Library Authority (GLA) is set to hit a target of 100,000 registered readers in the year 2019 in all its nine branches across the region.

This is in line with the GLA’s declaration of 2019 as a “Year of Reading.”

In an interview with Graphic Online, the Central Regional Librarian, Nana Kwame Appiah Kubi, said the target would be achieved through various interventions by the Library Authority to get people reading again as well as keeping the libraries busy again.

One of such interventions, he said, would be the launch of mobile reading vans to reach out to students in the various hinterlands and rural communities across the region with books next year.

Electronic readers

He said the Central Regional office of the Ghana Library Authority had also introduced electronic-reader tablets for its basic school members.

Currently, Appiah Kubi said, the library has 70 electronic tablets with 183 story books for the children, adding that the tablets had significantly increased the number of readers at the library.

“A significant number of children are coming to the library to read stories on the tablets…and this is good. We want to get them to read whichever way possible,” he stated.

Nana Kubi said children are now fascinated with electronic gadgets and getting electronic versions of books on tablets was an effective way to get them to cultivate reading habits.

“Hard copy story books are not so easy to keep and children would usually destroy the hard copies easily,” he stated, noting that with the e-readers, children are guided to use the tablets with care.

“We want the children to read. Now every child loves to have an electronic gadget and so we are taking the books to them to get them to read on the e-readers,” he said.

Utilise the library

Nana Kubi urged students under the double track system to utilise the library for their personal good, saying “make sure to visit the library often during your holiday periods”.

He said libraries had not lost their relevance and added that libraries continue to provide conducive environment for people to learn, research and acquire knowledge.

“We have to devise ways to make the libraries more attractive and proactive for the youth in this technological age,” he stated.