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WACAM donates 300 books to Ghana Library Authority

WACAM, a community based human rights and environmental mining advocacy NGO yesterday donated 300 books to the Ghana Library Authority (GhLA) in Accra.

The books included 50 copies each of ‘Exploring Local Content Potentials in the Mining Oil and Gas Sector, Wacam Training Manual, Free Prior and Informed Consent in Ghana; A Study on Community Right and the Onshore Oil and Gas; A Study on Community Rights.

The rest which were written by the Executive Director of WACAM, Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, included “Paying My Debt-Autobiography of Daniel Owusu-Koranteng and the Wanders Poem.”

Making the presentation, Mr Daniel Owusu-Korantengsaid “I have been a product of public library and have benefitted immensely while growing up since I loved to read which has helped me to be what I am today, hence it was imperative that I ‘pay my debt’ to my  country.”

He emphasised the importance of reading saying it bettered one’s writing skills and made them a better writer and communicator in life.

“I promised myself that if I become a writer I will get back to where I got the writing culture from to at least pay my little debt to them. I would continue to write other books and as I do so I will continue to donate to the Ghana Library Authority,” he added.

The Executive Director of WACAM stressed that social media had become the enemy of today’s generation, taking them from reading books.

He said nothing could take away the existence of books not even the advent and prevalence of the internet in today’s world.

Mr Owusu-Koranteng, therefore, used the opportunity to admonish the youth to take reading seriously.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GhLA, Mr Hayford Siaw, received the books and expressed the Authority’s gratitude to WACAM and its Executive Director for the gesture.

He said the GhLAhad declared the year as the ‘Year of Books’ to raise awareness of the need to invest in increasing book stocks on the shelves of public libraries in the country for which reason donations such as these were relevant and timely.

Mr Siaw pointed out that if people who had benefitted from public libraries like Mr Owusu-Koranteng were giving back to the Authority, literacy would be promoted and library resources increased.

Reiterating that books would forever remain relevant, he charged other well-meaning individuals and corporate entities to assist the authority with more reading materials to enable it to extend its coverage to all parts of the country as far as the promotion of reading literacy was concerned.

BY ABIGAIL ARTHUR AND
ANITA ANKRAH

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