By Priscilla Oye Ofori
Accra, Aug. 31, GNA – Madam Abla Dzifa Gomashie, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, has urged stakeholders in education and culture to make reading fashionable to encourage children to read beyond their school textbooks.
She said children must be exposed to Ghanaian literature, African literature, science, history, biographies, technology and the creative arts to broaden their minds.
Madam Gomashie made the call in a speech read on her behalf at the 23rd Ghana International Book Fair in Accra, themed: “Transforming Ghana’s Future Through Books”.
She said the Fair’s theme came at an important time in national development and provided an opportunity to reflect on the place of books in building an informed and culturally confident Ghana.
“Let us use this occasion to renew our commitment to putting books into the hands of our children, strengthening our libraries, supporting Ghanaian authors and publishers, and making reading a lifelong habit,” she said.
The Government was pursuing programmes to expand opportunities for young people and recognised that knowledge, nourished by reading was key to innovation, heritage preservation and telling Ghana’s own stories in the global economy, Madam Gomashie said.
The Ministry, she said, recognised the contribution of the Ghana International Book Fair and assured the literary and publishing community of its continued support.
The Minister commended exhibitors, authors, publishers, booksellers, schools and partners for their participation and urged the public to patronise the Fair.
Mr Edward Udzu, Chairman of the International Book Fair, said books were more than printed pages bound together, describing them as repositories of knowledge, windows into other worlds, records of collective memory, and instruments for shaping the future.
“Through books, a child encounters new possibilities. Through books, a student acquires knowledge and develops the ability to think critically,” he noted.
Mr Udzu stressed the need for access to quality books for young people to think critically, solve problems and create opportunities as Ghana’s ambition to be innovative, informed, creative and globally competitive depended on building a reading nation.
He applauded publishers, writers, booksellers, teachers and librarians for sustaining the industry whilst acknowledging the Government and development partners for their support.
The Fair, which started on Thursday, August 27, at the National Theater, ends on Sunday, August 30.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
By Priscilla Oye Ofori