Mobile library provides access to books for people in communities

Accra, Nov. 6, GNA - The Ghana Library Board (GLB) operates a pilot mobile library in

all the 10 regions to render services to people in communities that have no access to library,

Mr. Guy Amarteifio, Eastern Regional Director of GLB, said on Friday.

He said the prisons, hospitals and remote villages were areas where the vans served for

only a day or two for teachers, pupils and the reading public.

Mr. Amarteifio who was interacting with the press at the on-going Eighth Ghana

International Book Fair in Accra, said people had the right to library services but had been

denied this facility for far too long.
The mobile library concept began in the 1940's by the British and was taken over by the

GLB in the 1950's but due to lack of funds the services was stalled.

Mr. Amarteifio said the concept was reactivated in 2009, because about 60 per cent of the

population were in the villages where access to library was not available.

He appealed to NGOs, private organisations and philanthropists to consider that a reading

nation was a winning nation and therefore necessary to assist the mobile library idea.

Mr. Amarteifio explained that GLB operated four main types of public library systems

including junior and senior high schools, universities, special libraries for institutions such as

Bank of Ghana and a national library which is the George Padmore Library in Accra.

He said the libraries established with government funds were responsible for the public

irrespective of age and status because it was government's responsibility for everyone to

access information.
Mr. Amarteifio said the mobile library concept was being supported by the Ghana

Education Trust Fund and government with books distributed to their branches in the

country.
He said in future other facilities such as film shows and internet services would be

provided because efforts were being made to secure computers.

GNA