As part of activities to mark the 2017 edition of the World Literacy Day which held last Friday, a literacy advocacy group known as Garden City Library, Project Read Advocacy has embarked on public sensitisation and awareness campaign on the importance of reading. Director of the group, Mr Austin Nwaeze who led the advocacy team across major streets and water fronts in Port Harcourt, disclosed that the gesture was to restore the faltering reading culture, especially among the youths.
Speaking with The Tide during the sensitization campaign in Port Harcourt, Nwaeze, he emphasized the need to upgrade the people on basic literacy training and called for proper funding of the educational sector and intuitional re-orientation on the reading culture.
He said the creative talents of youths can only be harnessed through access to good books and effective reading, and stated that his organization was committed to the provision of books and other social services to harness good reading habit among youths. He said the Garden City library was a social platform and a non governmental organization dedicated to serving the indigent population located mostly at the rural areas.
He pointed that the body partnered with another group known as Port Harcourt shapers club to organize the world literacy day, noting that his organization has recorded tremendous achievement since 2011 when it debuted.
“We have undergone a lot of transition and recorded grant impact since we started. We have carried out projects such as, Book drive, Book mobile library for homes, schools and communities, sustainable reading culture with parents, Teacher Assistance, reading clinic for dyslexic school children among others”. Highlights of the event include donation of free books to children and presentation of awards.

Taneh Beemene