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"To make reading a way of life, there are certain necessary conditions that must be fulfilled. And chief among these conditions is ensuring that books are available and accessible to a large percentage of the population. In other words, functional public libraries must be built and stocked with up-to-date books.
Thus, even before children start schooling, they have already learnt the importance of the library. They enjoy visiting there; they see their parents and older siblings visit there now and again. They inculcate the culture at a very young age and as such nobody needs to preach to them when they are older that they need to make the printed word their friend. And as it is with harrow, so it is with other boroughs in London and councils in other parts of United Kingdom. I do not know how many local government areas in our country that have libraries. I doubt if there is any local government chairman in Nigeria that thinks that a library is essential to the development of his council.
I pray that the president’s ‘Bring back the book campaign’ is no gimmick. I would like to see a president that will give the lie to this popular suspicion by starting with a better funding of education so that schools will have libraries well equipped with internet facilities and up-to-date books. Besides, I believe the the campaign will make more sense if the name is changed to ‘One village, One library’. Imagine what will happen to reading culture in the country if every village has one public library”.
- By Nnaemeka Maribe, The Punch, January 3
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