Alpha Beta Charitable Trust Community Library opens

By Patience A. Gbeze, GNA
Accra, May 6, GNA - Alpha Beta Charitable Trust, a Community Service Wing of the Alpha Beta Education Centre, has inaugurated a GH₵ 400,000 Community Library at Nasarawa - Shukura, Dansoman to promote reading habit among children in the catchment area.

The library, with a capacity of 80 children per session, would be opened for children from five- 15 years, those who cannot read would be taught, and those who could read would be assisted to read more fluently.

Other activities at the library would include reading and writing competitions, storytelling, art and craft exhibitions and Information and Communication Technology.

Mrs Florence Adjepong, Co-Founder of the Alpha Beta Education Centre, said the Trust would take care of maintenance of the building and urged parents to encourage their wards and children to patronage the library.

She said the idea of community library was conceived during the school's 20th anniversary in 2008 to give special place for the children a place where they could develop their skills and learn new ones, which would help them through life.

She therefore commended corporate institutions, Ghana Education Service, parents and individuals who in diverse way contribute to achieve the idea.

The library, she said, is to promote and develop the joy of reading among children, many of whom do not ordinarily have access to the wide range of fiction, non-fiction and school textbooks and games and puzzles which the library will expose them to.

Mrs Adjepong announced the library would also facilitate an Adult Literacy programme for community members, who desired to read and write but missed earlier opportunities to do so.

The Adult literacy programme would be held in the mornings and the children's library during the afternoons

'All these services will be available for free, all that is required for membership is a GH₵ 5 membership fee for which they will be issued with colour coded cards for attending the library at different days.

'The library will be run by two full time staff as well as teacher and student volunteers from Alpha Beta School. We are counting on the community leader to encourage the children to take full advantage of the library and all that it has to offer,' she added.

Mrs Kathy Knowles, Founder of the Osu Library Fund, said books alone is not enough but ideas that would transform the lives of the children is more important.

She urged the librarians to nurture the library as their own business and bring in more children to justify the investment.

The Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West, Mrs Ursla Owusu-Ekumful, urged parents to make it mandatory for their children to spend at least one hour a week at the library to improve their lots.

She promised to pay for the first 100 children that would register for the library.

Mrs Diana Twum, Aspiring Member of Parliament for the National Democratic Congress for Ablekuma West, also promised to donate assorted books to the library as her quota to the development of the children within the Nasarawa Shukura community.

GNA