The Ghana Library Board (GLB) in collaboration with the American Embassy has embarked on educational outreach programmes in rural Districts to promote interest in reading and general knowledge in Basic Schools. As part of the programme, participating schools at the basic levels were taken through spelling competitions, quizzes and storey telling known as “reading clinics” after reading story books of their choice to test their knowledge and understanding of the English language. Briefing the GNA after one of such programmes at Abiriw in the Akuapem North District, Mr Tom Brown, Coordinator for the programme, said patronage of libraries in the country had gone down and in order to revive the interest, the GLB in collaboration with the “American Corner” a reference library on America at the GLB had decided to use the outreach programme to reverse the trend. He explained that although library was not specifically an integral part of the education system it was undoubtedly one of the major facilities in complementing education, especially at the basic levels to inculcate the habit of reading in children. Mr Brown said patronage of library by children, especially in the cities was not all that encouraging as compared to those in the towns and villages. He therefore appealed to parents in the rural areas to encourage their wards to go to libraries by registering them to enable them access books of their choice for learning. He explained that the project was an initiative of the American Embassy through the “American Corner” to help raise the standard of education particularly in reading. The participating schools including Abiriw Presbyterian, Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) and Methodist Primary schools and the children who distinguished themselves were given prizes ranging from world books to world maps. Source: GNA