File photo : Governor Simon Lalong congratulating Mr. Joseph Ari, Director General of Industrial Training Fund, ITF, on his reappointment.
By Marie-Therese Nanlong
Jos – For individuals and organizations to sustain the momentum of growth, increase relevance and adapt to any change in the environment, they must embrace and imbibe a strong reading culture.
This was the submission of the Director General/Chief Executive of the Industrial Training Fund, ITF, Sir Joseph Ari who tasked not just staff of the organization but the public to always visit the library, pick a book and read as reading is not only for organizational growth alone but also for individual benefit as reading aids in developing the individual’s thoughts, cognitive mental stimulation and brain exercising, vocabulary and knowledge expansion, among others.
Addressing participants at the organisation’s 14th Library Week tagged: “Library Matters: Building a Reading Culture,” Ari, represented by the organization’s Director of ICT, Dickson Onuoha noted that ITF and its staff cannot give what they do not have hence the need to engage in extensive reading otherwise, the vision of aspiring to be among the best in the world will not be fully realized.
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His words, “The 14th edition of the ITF Library Week affords us the platform to celebrate the invaluable role that libraries, librarians and library workers play in transforming societies. In ITF, the first Library Week was organized in 2007 and was aimed at boosting the reading culture in the ITF staff and other users. This year’s theme is in furtherance of our continued efforts to ensure well rounded staff that are mentally and intellectually prepared to drive the achievement of our onerous mandate.
“The ITF library offers an array of services and opportunities for knowledge growth and is open not only to staff but to members of the public desirous of taking advantage of its immense resources. The question may be asked; why do libraries matter? As a leading Human Resources Development organization in Nigeria, with the wide ranging mandate to provide, promote and encourage the acquisition of skills, we are expected to be ahead in the discovery of new and trending skills, information and knowledge.
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“You cannot give what you don’t have, therefore, for the ITF to sustain the momentum of growth, increasing relevance …, we must embrace and imbibe a strong reading culture because organizations that embrace such build creative and innovative teams that set the tone for development in their sector… I therefore charge everyone of you to visit the library today and pick a book and read.”
Earlier, the organization’s Director of Research, Zechariah Piwuna stressed sustaining the culture of celebrating the Library Week in ITF was deliberately done to make people appreciate reading and promote reading culture among the people.
Highpoints of the event were the reviews of books on diverse topics read by staff as well as the presentation of books to reviewers to encourage them to continue reading.
Librarians from the National Library and the University of Jos Library witnessed the event which took place at the headquarters of the ITF in Jos.
