EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) manager Ramune Petuchovaite is to meet public library stakeholders and EIFL partners in Ghana to discuss continuing professional development of public librarians.

At the meeting, representatives of government, the public library sector and training providers will discuss the current situation with respect to professional development of public librarians, identify training gaps and needs and share ideas about providing further training.

The meeting follows EIFL’s successful capacity building programme in Ghana (2014/15). The programme built public librarians’ technology and e-literacy skills, their training skills to enable them to train community members to use computers and the internet, and project management skills.

After the Accra meeting, Petuchovaite will travel to Kumasi, in Ashanti Region, to visit Ashanti Regional Library and schools involved in the Hands-on computer classes for 1,800 Ghana children project, which is supported by EIFL. Ashanti Regional Library is one of four regional libraries involved in the project. In each region, mobile libraries, take solar-charged laptop computers pre-loaded with educational materials to under-resourced schools to give children practical experience of using computers, and to support learning in school subjects.