Ghana Library Authority celebrates 70th Anniversary, Commits GH₵ 3 million to Library Fund

&NewLine;<p>Ghana Library Authority has unveiled a Public Library Endowment Fund as a flagship initiative&period; It is part of its 70th Anniversary Celebration to support the growth and development of public libraries in Ghana&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>This was made known at the launch of the 70th Anniversary in Accra&period; The Board Chairperson of the Ghana Library Authority <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">Governing Board&comma;<&sol;a> Dr Helena Asamoah-Hassan gave the rationale behind the endowment fund&period; She  said&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Government alone cannot sufficiently provide all the needs for the smooth operation of public library services in the country&period; We are mobilizing philanthropic capital to support the growth and sustainability of the Public Library System in Ghana&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;A strong public library system is built over time&period; It grows and evolves over decades and even centuries&period; That is why the Ghana Library Authority is establishing this endowment fund&period; It will create a lasting impact on the public library system in the country&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>She further indicated that the Governing Board and Management have set a target to raise a seed fund of <strong>GH₵ 10 million&period; According to him&comma; it will be <&sol;strong>invested in safe instruments to support the development and operations of public library service&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The special guest of honour was  the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;dailyguide&period;net">Minister of Education<&sol;a>&comma; Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh&period; In his address&comma; he stated&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I am pleased to announce that Government&comma; through the Ministry of Education&comma; is supporting the Endowment Fund with seed money of GHS 3 million&period; This is a gesture of our commitment to our public library service&period;  Public library is a major player in our drive to promote reading and literacy and ultimately improve learning outcomes&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"wp-block-heading"><strong>PERFORMING AGENCY<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;As the best performing agency under the Ministry of Education&comma; I wouldn’t hesitate to support the Library&comma;” he added&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The Minister also shared with the gathering about some achievements of the Ministry of Education through the Ghana Library Authority&period; Specifically&comma; he pointed&comma; in less than four years&comma; digitization&comma; Innovation and Technology as achievements&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Today&comma; GhLA is the only public library in West Africa to develop and run a digital branch of its services&period; During <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wsj&period;com">COVID-19<&sol;a>&comma; government supported GhLA to expand its infrastructure into hosting video tutorials being shown on the Ghana Learning TV&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The Executive Director of the Ghana Library Authority&comma; Mr Hayford Siaw&comma; expressed his gratitude to the President of Ghana and the Minister of Education for their support to the public libraries since 2017&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>He indicated that aside from Unveiling of the Public Library Endowment Fund and the commissioning of the Accra Central Library conference facility&comma; the Authority would commission a new library in honour of its first Ghanaian Board Chairman&comma; Mr Edward Akufo-Addo&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;