The Lae public library in the Morobe Province, is still seeking financial assistance to revive the facility after it ceased operating in 1995.
The veteran Librarian of the Lae’s public library, Lucy, tells the story of how books were removed from the library and stored in a container as there was inadequate funds to operate the facility. Currently, what is left of it is a rundown structure, slowly eaten away by termites.
The library books that were used to be here were removed and placed in this container. What’s left of it are stacks of books, now covered in dusts. Earlier today, we visited the place, and Lucy Seseve, the veteran librarian, showed us through what’s left of this once vital infrastructure.
“This is what it looks like after the library was condemmed and closed 14 years ago”, Mrs Seseve said. The place was supposed to be taken care of by the Morobe provincial government through its education department.
But that has not been the case after the provincial government viewed it as a non-priority area, and the funds allocated to refurbish the place were used on other areas.
Lucy wrote consecutive letters to the provincial government with the hope of seeking assistance to revive this vital infrastructure in the PNG’s education sector. But, she eventually stopped writing those letters to the provincial government, after realizing that her letters haven’t been considered.
Here you can see the absence of what the government views as priority areas and which are not priority areas. Here, you also get a sense of the changes that are happening in the education sector where much of the work is now done through the ICT, while the traditional way of learning is gradually ceased to work.
While Lucy called on the Morobe provincial government to rebuild this significant infrastructure, she also views this as one of the major contributor towards Papua New Guinea’s high illiteracy rate.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=J3gtMBxMjpE%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque%26showinfo%3D0%26showsearch%3D0%26rel%3D0
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