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IT consulting and technology firm, WestBlue Consulting, has launched its e-Ananse Libraries to change the reading culture among Ghanaians. The initiative forms part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility.
Two of the ultramodern libraries are located at Legon Campus and Osu. The Founder of WestBlue Consulting, Ms Valentina Mintah, in a speech read for her by Mr Michael Addo, the CEO of WestBlue Consulting, said the idea was crafted to make the Ghanaian embrace local value and compete with global actors.
“That’s why the global-local approach – being conscious of the realities of global culture while being rooted in local knowledge and traditions – is paramount. My mantra, “Think Global, Know Local,” is the guiding principle behind the e-Ananse Libraries”
“Equipping Ghanaians with the knowledge about what makes us Ghanaian, what makes us African, gives us a better chance of competing in the world. It means we’re able to say, Yes, we acknowledge the global, but we proudly embrace the local. The assuredness that comes from this self-knowledge is invaluable,” Ms Mintah said.
She added: “Knowledge of our history equals pride in who we are as a people in our strength and our ingenuity, in our resourcefulness and our creativity and means we can face the world with confidence about our value to it.”
She said the e-Ananse Libraries bring together many organisations from Ghana and around the world, whose values and missions are aligned with their own of preserving local culture, while embracing the best of what the world has to offer in terms of knowledge and skills.
Ms Mintah said this, in itself, was a very African principle and they were committed to ensuring that, through the establishment of the e-Ananse Libraries, “we stay true to our values by giving our children both the roots and the wings to succeed.”
She said the company prides itself on the commitment to being a pace setting, innovating and world class organisation and it was this same mindset that they bring to the e-Ananse Libraries as part of their CSR.
The e-Ananse Libraries stand out for four reasons:
• They house contemporary and classic books, predominantly by writers of African descent, that reflect our pride in our African heritage;
• They each have an iHub with state-of-the-art computing facilities to equip Ghanaians through the Ghana-Oracle Digital Enterprise Program (GODEP), with the skills to compete in today’s tech-savvy world;
• The e-Ananse Amphitheatre is a magnificent live literature space where stories come to life, in the spirit of our Ananse traditions;
• Finally, our knowledgeable and professional staff take pride in their work, and in helping library users achieve their full potential. Capacity building and empowerment is at the core of what we do.
A Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, commended the management of West Blue Consulting and its partners for the initiative to introduce the e-Ananse Libraries project. He said the Ghana Library Authority together with the Ghana Education Service are revamping libraries across the whole country to improve on the reading culture.
Dr Adutwum said there is the need for transformation of the educational sector, which would enable government transform the country.
“We need to change the pyramid, if we want to transform the country,” he said. Dr Adutwum urged the leadership of the project to reach out to the Zongo communities to inspire them to also cultivate the habit of reading. He said as a country, there is the need to change the reading culture, since many things now were buried in books.
Dr Adutwum said the Ministry of Education and the Library Authority would partner with the project to help improve the falling standard of education in the country.
Source: Daily Mail GH
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