Ghana has 139 public libraries serving about 35 million people, an alarmingly inadequate figure for a country seeking to drive development through education, information access, and lifelong learning.

The acting Executive Director of the Ghana Library Authority (GhLA), Ziblim Alhassan Betintiche, who made this known, described the situation as a national challenge that must be urgently addressed if the country is to compete globally.

“We are managing 139 libraries across the country. For a developing country that must use information and lifelong learning policies to transform itself, this is woefully inadequate,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Daily Graphic.

He added that all 139 libraries under the authority were functional, but their quality and services varied widely.

Lithuania

Mr. Betintiche contrasted the country’s numbers with Lithuania, a country of just about 2.9 million people that boasts over 1,200 libraries, emphasising how much work needs to be done.

“We must do everything possible as a state to increase our library numbers. In fact, quality libraries, not just libraries; libraries that will transform lives through innovation and critical resource materials,” he added.

Mr. Betintiche further revealed that in spite of the nation’s 16 administrative regions, only nine regional libraries existed, with some falling short of expected standards.

“There are even some districts that have no libraries at all. It's a major challenge that we, as new management, this government, and other like-minded personalities and institutions, must look at,” he said. 

Addressing challenges

To bridge the deficit, the authority is mobilising support in addition to government funding.

Mr. Betintiche stressed that although the state was doing its best despite global financial challenges, his outfit was consistently courting corporate Ghana and international partners such as UNICEF, Book Aid International, Books for Africa, the Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL) and the Du Bois Centre.

The authority is also proposing a dedicated Library Fund to provide sustainable financing independent of central government allocations.

On the issue of a declining reading culture, Mr. Betintiche underscored the importance of embracing technology to engage a generation increasingly drawn to digital platforms.

“Children are driven by things that excite them, such as digital resources. So we must employ other innovative and modern ways of attracting kids and other people to want to read.

So you can deploy digital resources through those gadgets, and once they play with them, they can also learn something,” he said.

He said the GhLA had a digital library app, mobile library vans equipped with information and communications technology (ICT) resources, and free digital training on coding and AI programmes in some libraries.

The Executive Director added that the authority was reviewing its 55-year-old governing law to reflect modern, globally aligned library management practices.

National library

Mr Betintiche stated that a priority of the GhLA was to establish a true National Library—a heritage and research centre mandated to house and preserve all published materials, issue ISBN and ISSN numbers, and serve as the country’s bibliographic hub, similar to what pertains in advanced nations.

“Currently, we have the George Padmore Library functioning as a national library, but it doesn’t have all that it takes to be a full national library,” Mr. Betintiche stated.

The proposed legislative review, he said, would also cover presidential and memorial libraries.

Adopt

Mr Betintiche appealed to individuals and corporate entities to “adopt libraries” and make them inclusive and attractive, particularly for children, the needy, and persons with disabilities.

“We do not have an option but to support libraries.

They are no longer just centres for reading but for the transformation of people's lives, because they go there to learn skills and acquire knowledge,” he said.