Why we must pay more attention to Libraries

Nigeria can continue to pay lip service to the importance of education but quality education cannot be attained without functional #libraries at all levels of schooling. Secondary school leavers and in some cases graduates find it extremely difficult to write correct sentences. UNESCO aptly named it 'schooling without learning'! In this age where global competitiveness is built through robust education, Nigeria is sadly falling far behind.
Lifelong learning has become most essential for people who finished schooling some years back. Why? Daily, new concepts, technologies, skills and processes seem to be birthed. Those who are no longer in school need to learn all these to continue being relevant in their work spaces and to participate fully in the modern world. Again, this cannot be achieved without libraries in different communities where people can read, acquire digital skills and learn how to connect and use opportunities online. Information is the currency of the 21st century. Information drives development. Availability and access to Information underpins innovations and start-ups. In these days where nations are becoming wealthy based on information-products and information-driven innovations rather than from natural resources, Nigeria and the rest of Africa needs to pay more attention to libraries.
#Libraries provide access to information. They are physical and virtual spaces for building up the minds of young people and the not-so-young in the society. Libraries provide knowledge resources that educate, task and prod minds into thinking and being productive. They stock information and knowledge of past and present generations and from different societies that broaden the mind to think widely, dream and 'draw' on global canvases!
Democracy is better practiced and more sustainable in societies where the citizens are literate. #Libraries assist in doing this very effectively as people are exposed to the written words in all formats within the library spaces.
These and several other reasons are why we advocate and ask for attention to be paid to #libraries. We ask for library-friendly policies at the State and National levels. We ask that communities and individuals that understand the times build and/or support libraries in their localities. #ProudlyLibrarian #NigLibrarians