Second Lady urges librarians to sharpen skills

Second Lady Mrs Matilda Amissah-Arthur yesterday opened a three-day international workshop for librarians, with a call on the participants to sharpen their skills in order to remain relevant in the modern world.

According to her, the scope and magnitude of change occurring in libraries today are exciting, as well as daunting, stressing, “It calls for a complete overhaul of the way we do things.”

Herself a librarian, Mrs Amissah-Arthur, who was speaking on the topic, “Librarianship and the demand for new leadership skills”, reminded the participants that “the library of the last century is no more the library of today”.

The workshop, organised by the Nigeria Library Association (Information Technology Section) in collaboration with Ifegrace Ventures Ltd with the support of the Ghana Library Association, is being attended by librarians from Ghana and Nigeria.

Modern library

Mrs Amissah-Arthur told the librarians that the library used to be a place of consumption; “the place where you read, watch and listen, but society has evolved and so also has the library”.

She said current trends, especially the advent of computers and the use of technologies, had changed the materials stocked in the libraries “and, therefore, the way we do things”.

The Second Lady said the roles, responsibilities and functions of the librarian had changed, adding that the library was a place where new social relationships were forged and knowledge created, explored and shared.

Public, academic libraries

She said due to the role of computers and Internet access, today’s public libraries did not just lend books; they helped people to find jobs, obtain specialised information, connect people to government services and provide life-long education.

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The public library was now seen as a multipurpose community centre offering business services, a safe haven for children after school and a public meeting place, she noted.

In the same vein, Mrs Amissah-Arthur said the academic library is now less of a place of study but more a partner in research, teaching and learning.

She said the services had evolved from the days of closed stacks, through shelf browsing, card catalogues and OPACs to open access and institutional repositories.

Information curation

She reminded the participants that the primary role of the library, which was information curation, was still relevant. “However, it is evolving as the volume and variety of information expands.”

She said as content creation became readily available, information curation would become a critical skill. Therefore, the librarian had to manage not just the information, as in the collection, but more importantly now, the content.

Dynamism of librarianship

Welcoming the participants, the President of the Ghana Library Association, Dr Perpetual Dadzie, said the concept and practice of leadership in librarianship were becoming more complex in the 21st century.

She said librarians were facing multitude of issues, which required effective leadership to meet the demands of the changing clients. 

The University of Ghana Librarian, Professor Ellis Badu, who chaired the function, said the trend of librarianship was changing, adding that there was the need for a new brand of leadership in librarianship.