19 May 2014

Residents of Masunga and nearby villages have been urged to make use of their library so as to develop their lives.

Making a keynote address at the official opening of the Masunga reading room on May 16, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Collegium Educational Publishers, Ms Soso Mweendo told the residents that libraries were not only beneficial to school children.

She indicated that libraries formed an integral part of day-to-day life hence the need for every community member to make full use of their services.

Ms Mweendo pointed out that the introduction of IT equipment such as computers in libraries through-out the country was a huge plus, the aim of which she stated was to make information easily accessible to every individual.

She noted that in addition to contributing to the realisation of a technologically-savvy nation, the internet had reduced the world to one global village.

Another speaker at the event, Ms Chinana Selolwane informed the gathering that though Masunga should be having a fully-fledged library by now, that had not been possible due to budgetary constraints.

Ms Selolwane, a senior official of the Botswana National Library Service (BNLS), urged residents to fully embrace and utilize their reading room, assuring them that the library would be built once the financial situation permitted the carrying out of such a project.

She explained that the Sesigo Project, through which libraries and reading rooms were being equipped with computers, was meant to enhance the lives of community members.

Further, she said the project was in line with the Vision 2016 pillar of an educated and informed nation, thus imploring residents to use the computers installed in their reading room to benefit from among others, the wealth of information obtainable from the internet.

Speaking at the same event, the Assistant District Commissioner Mr Collen Tubego hailed the growth of libraries over the years, observing that in the past libraries were only about books contrary to today’ status quo where technological equipment is found in them.

Mr Tubego however appealed to users of the Masunga reading room to not use the computers for improper things such as viewing and downloading pornographic material, cautioning them against the dangers of polluting their minds.

Earlier when welcoming guests to the event, Kgosi Thabo Maruje III stated that though the reading room was small in size, the materials in it were of great significance and value to the lives of residents.

Kgosi Maruje III also urged users against theft and vandalism of the material in the reading room, further admonishing every member of the community to selflessly guard the reading room to ensure that it continued to benefit them many years to come.

The event, which was held under the theme, Building an educated and informed nation though the use of Information and Communication Technology, saw Ms Mweendo presenting the reading room with books and a P5 000 cheque from Collegium Educational Publishers. Ends