The National Bar Association of the US and Mount City Bar Association of Saint Luis Mission, USA, on Friday donated books valued at 10, 000 dollars to the Akuapem North District Library at Abiriw.
The donation, which was in partnership with the Thompson Renter and Law and Democracy Initiative Books for Africa, a non-governmental organization, forms part of the 2010 International Affiliates meeting of the association in Ghana.
Making the presentation the President of the National Bar Association, Ms Mavis Thompson, said the two associations were made up of African-American lawyers and judges in the USA who champion political, economic and social
development.
She said the two associations held meetings annually in different countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean with their counterpart bar associations to see how best they could contribute to political, economic and social
development.
Ms Ronda Williams, the President of Mount Bar Association of Saint Luis, said since the formation of the association, donation of books had remained one of their priorities.
She said their decision to donate the books to the library followed a request made by a member of the association who hails from Abiriw.
Receiving the books on behalf of the library Nana Kwame Henaku II, Abiriwhene, thanked the two associations for their gesture.
Nana Henaku expressed concern about the poor nature of the library and appealed to the Ghana Library Board and the Akuapem North District Assembly to renovate it to make it more attractive to visitors.
He also expressed worry about falling standard of education in the Akuapem area and attributed the situation to lack of interest in reading by school children in recent times.
Nana Henaku appealed to parents to encourage their children to cultivate the habits of reading.
He also appealed to all citizens of the area, both home and abroad, to emulate the donors and contribute their quota to the development agenda of the town.
The assembly member for the Abiriw electoral area, Mr Richard Awuah Mantey, appealed to the Ghana Education Service (GES), to stock the library with modern text books to meet the needs of school children.