Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, a renowned Mining Activist , Professional Mediator , Reading Advocate , Writer and Poet has donated Forty books to the Logos Hope as his contribution to support the efforts of the world’s largest floating library to promote reading culture especially among the youth globally.
He donated twenty copies each of his two award winning books “ Paying My Debt- An Autobiography” and “ The Wanderer’s Poems- An Anthology of Twenty-Five Poems” to the Logos Hope on 27th August , 2024.
Ms Viguier Christina Anne Grace, the Assistant Book Fair Manager of the Logos Hope who received the books on behalf of Logos Hope thanked Mr Owusu-Koranteng for the kind gesture which she said was very much appreciated by the management and staff of Logos Hope .
In an interview with Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng , he commended the efforts of Logos Hope in promoting reading culture globally especially among the youth through its Floating Library approach.
According to Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng , Reading Culture carries with it enormous benefits especially for the youth because it is through reading that the youth would have access to extensive knowledge stored in books which would equip them to deal with the difficulties of life and prevent the youth from falling into temptations of adopting bad habits like smoking , drug addiction, alcoholism and many social vices that are destroying the youth today .
“ It is only when our youth become Avid Readers that they can have values of honesty , integrity, humility , hardwork and emotional intelligence to prepare them to be authentic next generation leaders for our nation”, he said.
According to Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng , Reading Habit is a very important character-moulding tool that would prepare the next generation leaders of our nation to develop the wisdom and love for our nation .
Sharing his experience as to how he developed the Reading Culture, Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng explained that he developed the Reading Habit very early in his life through the influence of his late father which was reinforced by his elementary school experience of having access to read books which were kept in wooden boxes to serve as the Library for their elementary school class .
“ That gave me the enlightenment and foundation to become one of the regular users of the Public Library at Nkawkaw ,” he said .
According to him , he became very excited about the floating library concept of the Logos Hope and that is why he made the symbolic gesture of donating some of his books which is his small contribution to demonstrate his admiration for the efforts of the Logos Hope to spread the importance of Reading Culture globally . “ The commitment of the Logos Hope to promote the Reading Culture globally is worth emulating “, he added .
He appealed to the government of Ghana to promote the Reading Culture among the younger generations through increased investment in institutions that are entrusted with the responsibility of promoting Reading Habit such as the Ghana Library Board and Ghana Book Development Council . He further requested government to increase investment in the establishment of libraries in communities and schools .
He recommended the Mobile Library concept as a means to open up opportunities to people especially those in deprived areas to benefit from access to books for the development of the Reading Culture among people in rural communities who do not have access to Libraries. “ If we cannot manage a big project that promotes access to books like the Floating Library of Logos Hope , we can learn from the effectiveness of the concept of providing access to books for many Ghanaians through the Mobile Library Concept.”
Mr Owusu-Koranteng expressed the need to increase our investment in the Mobile Library project.
He also called on people who are well endowed financially to take the establishment of Libraries as a very important developmental agenda. He called on philanthropists and well meaning Ghanaians to regard investment in the provision of Libraries to areas without Libraries as very important for human capital development.
The books he donated to Logos Hope had won prestigious awards .
His book “Paying My Debt-An Autobiography” won the Creative Non-Fiction ( Kofi Awoonor ) Category in the 5th Literary Awards of the Ghana Association of Writers ( GAW) in 2021 and the “ Wanderer’s Poems- An Anthology of Twenty-Five Poems” won the Readers Choice Best Poet Award for 2024. The Readers Choice Best Poet Award was sponsored by the Africa Must Read Foundation .
Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng had donated some of his books to the Ghana Library Board in the past .
