EQUIPPING THE SCHOOL LIBRARIES

BY EBOIGBE CYRIL ZION

A Library is an institution which holds books and/or other forms of media for use by the public or qualified people often lending them out, as well as providing various other services for its users. Going by this definition the library therefore is referred to be a solemn place for study, carrying out research for written assignment or any form of academic pursuit.

However, with the world fastly becoming a global village due to increase in advanced technology the era of information technology seems to have replaced the manual method of our reading culture from having to buy or own a hardcopy of a book to owing a computer system with an app installed for an e-library where the books can easily be assessed from the site.

This is because library and librarian’s activities have been programmed into the school cyber system for easy access to books. With or without the Liberian you can access the e-library if you are registered in the school web site.

Remarkably, most African schools are yet to benefit from the current technological age of using e-library in schools. This is because they are un able to take up the financial burden as it is financially burdensome to have and sustain.

The e-library provides e-books on any subject topic just like the usual library with books on shelves, the beauty about the e-library is that you can access it in a jiffy and anytime, even at the comfort of your home so long as you own a laptop or desktop computer system.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the rise of teenage drop-out in school is alarming and the reasons are varies from poverty, health, teenage pregnancies, social and barbaric custom of the people especially with the girl child. The hunger and quest of these teenagers to read a book and become self-educated cannot be over-emphasized and as such should be encouraged by both government and the public sectors in addressing the social menace. This is made possible by making provision for free public and private libraries available in all localities or region with fully equipped up to date IT systems for e-learning.

More so, the provision of free primary education with free books would equally contribute to global education of every child.

It is believed that the quality of education a child receives is traceable to the quality of the library at his disposal hence the library is referred to be the custodian of wealth of knowledge and if anyone should remain informed and current with trend of events the library is the place to be.

Importantly to note, is that, a state of emergency should be declared on education with a view to equiping the school libraries as they are fast deteriorating, also the school authorities must rise to the occasion through various motivational approach in order for student to develop a reading culture with regular visits to the library in this way students can become self-motivated and inspired to improve their reading and learning skills.