Lagos State Government has kicked off Digital Library project in the state secondary schools across the Nigerian economic capital.
Obafela Bank-Olemoh, Special Adviser to the Governor on Education announced in a statement that the project also includes the upgrade of 21 secondary school libraries across all the six educational districts in the State, which would all be done this year.
The Digital Library project, which is in line with the vision of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, is planned to provide unlimited access to knowledge for all through the collection of digital content through an online portal, Bank-Olemoh said.
The portal, according to him, would be accessible via an Internet connection on a range of devices including feature phones.
[quote font=”georgia” font_size=”22″ font_style=”italic” align=”left” arrow=”yes”]Lagos State says it is also building the digital libraries to preserve historic and culture, enhance collaboration, provide tutorials for children, promote local talent and content, create jobs and equally strengthen physical libraries.[/quote]Content to be made available through the digital library includes e-books on numerous topics; 1,600 videos covering English, Mathematics & Sciences for all classes and 2,000 Study Aids in key subject areas for Secondary School subjects. Others include quality research papers from Lagos State Tertiary institutions covering a wide variety of topics to be digitized for the platform, vocational training videos, creatively presented history lessons as well as online course on coding, the Lagos State government said.
Bank-Olemoh further explained that the digital libraries “would be designed to ensure optimal user experience for the designated community, which includes producers of content, publishers of approved school text books.”
According to him, “one of the key mandates of His Excellency is that we solve problems and create value. In creating the digital library, we are committed to ensuring that we are not just setting up another online portal, but providing a solution. We will approach the project iteratively and continuously seek feedback from end users and other stakeholders to ensure the content and features provided are value-adding, timely, and innovative.”
Lagos State says it is also building the digital libraries to preserve historic and culture, enhance collaboration, provide tutorials for children, promote local talent and content, create jobs and equally strengthen physical libraries.
The first phase of the digital library would be launched in January 2017, he added, saying that on completion of this phase, the digital library will feature Study Aids, Tutorials, Instructional Videos and selected e-books for Primary to SS3 approved texts, Brief History of Lagos State and an Online Forum.
The Special Adviser said that the digital library is principally designated to benefit all Lagosians, even though the platform would be accessible from around the country and around the world.
According to him, efforts being made to enhance the functionality and patronage of the State public libraries and school libraries.
The State Government’s Private-Public-Partnership initiative tagged Adopt-A-Library was geared towards transforming the State public libraries into modern, ICT-enhanced knowledge centres, he said.
Under the plan, recent library upgrades is been undertaken at the Ipaja Public Library while the Ilupeju Public Library was recently upgraded by Custodian & Allied and the Herbert Macaulay Library, Yaba, is currently under renovation by Guaranty Trust Bank.
Bank-Olemoh further said that the libraries and ICT centres at Ireti and Falomo Secondary Schools were recently upgraded by ARM Pensions while Citibank also upgraded the library facility at Government Senior Secondary School, Victoria Island.
He also said that PricewaterhouseCoopers and Leadway Assurance have committed to adopting school libraries in Victoria Island and Surulere, respectively.
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