TODAY A READER, TOMORROW A LEADER…

I once chanced upon a banner with the inscription ‘today a reader, tomorrow a leader’. It was signpost sponsored by the producers of the popular noodle, Indomie, on the compound of community 8 no.3 basic school. Whenever I drive on the highway from the motorway roundabout heading towards the harbour, that is the thing that usually catch my attention at the community 8 bus-stop.

You probably know I’m biased towards reading and libraries. I have had cause in the past to write about the state of public libraries in the higher civilisation ( https://tweaaa.wordpress.com/2015/08/16/funeral-vs-education/ ). Last Friday, the Coastal Development Authority together with Rashid Kwesi Etuaful , NPP parliamentary candidate, under the 1 million per constituency initiative initiated processes for the renovation of the community library at Bremen Essiam.

In a conversation with Kwesi in July 2019 (which I published on this blog), he spoke about his desire to extend support to public libraries in the district. I know this is something that is close to his heart and his broader desire to reshape socio-cultural views on education in our district.The NPP government has demonstrated considerably commitment to the library sub-sector in the last three and half years. 43 out of the existing 61 libraries (as of 2016) have been renovated. 21 more new libraries have been built, taking the total network of public libraries under the Ghana Library Authority (GhLA) to 82 libraries as of today. The total book stock which stood at 349,941 in 2016 has increased to 1,024,892 now. Library visits which stood at 393,430 visits in 2016 has also increased two-folds to 1,074,275 visits as of 2019.

A digital library app launched by the GhLA in mid-2019 has also opened access to a wider audience to access books from the catalogue of the GhLA. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) in its manifesto commits to establishing a national knowledge and assessment bank, a comprehensive digital library to allow all Ghanaian students/learners access to learning materials and also provide a repository of assessment tools for assessing learning by teachers and instructors. The NDC manifesto unfortunately had NOTHING to say about public libraries in Ghana.

 It is evidently clear which political party is concerned about the culture of reading and education in general in Ghana. To safeguard the education of our children and future, there’s really only one option in this election, and that is the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

For my fellow natives of Ajumako Enyan Essiam,  reading is one of the most important tools that we can equip our young people with. Reading gives young people the opportunity to know the stories of others. It gave me an opportunity to walk in the pain, struggle and joy of the lived experiences of others. That is a valuable gift we can bequeath to our children. Reading gives us the ability to empathize with people. I believe that every book we read affects our understanding of the world. It broadens our perspectives. Reading helps to humanize our lived experiences.

Unfortunately the public library in Ajumako that I utilised extensively as a teenager then is a shadow of itself. The pictures of the community library in Essiam broke my heart. I don’t even want to go into the history of the library project in Bisease. But to achieve holistic development as a people and build a civilisation worthy of bequeathing to our children, there is only one option and you know it. Step away from the mediocrity that is being foisted on your thinking and see beyond the horizon. As my brother, Ekow, said succinctly, ‘books and libraries any day over okada politics.’