Ghana university libraries urged to lead digital transformation | Ghanaguardian.com
The OER Observatory aggregates and displays OER-related news and content from third-party sources worldwide. This content is not produced by UNESCO or the OER Dynamic Coalition. All rights and responsibility for the original content remain with the respective authors and publishers. The inclusion of third-party content in the Observatory does not imply endorsement by UNESCO or the OER Dynamic Coalition. Users can access the original source through the link provided with each item.
Ghana's university libraries must move beyond storing books and providing access to information if they are to remain central to teaching, research and learning, university leaders and librarians have said.
The call came at the 42nd Annual General Meeting and Conference of University Librarians Ghana (ULG), hosted by the University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (USTED) in Kumasi from 30 September to 1 October 2026.
Held under the theme "Leading the Change: Developing Resilient Library Leaders for a Transforming Academic Landscape", the conference brought together university librarians, researchers and higher-education leaders. Discussions focused on open access, research communication and widening public access to knowledge.
Professor Isaac Boateng, Pro-Vice Chancellor of USTED, said the challenge was not simply acquiring new technology but adapting it intelligently to Ghanaian circumstances.
"Change is already here. The question is not whether our libraries will change. They must. The real question is whether we will lead the change or merely respond to it," he said.
He argued that the growing volume of information made libraries more important, with their role increasingly involving helping people distinguish between information, knowledge, understanding and wisdom.
"The library of the future cannot simply be a place where information is stored. It must be a place where knowledge is trusted, ideas are cultivated, scholarship is protected and minds are liberated," Professor Boateng said.
He urged libraries to develop leaders who understand artificial intelligence and its ethical implications while protecting intellectual freedom, academic integrity and the human purpose of education.
Digital transformation, he said, should not mean copying European or Western models. Using Ghana's supermarket industry as an example, he contrasted Laba and Melcom, as well as the approaches of Shoprite and Game, to argue that organisations must adapt to their environment.
"Can we simply do everything that European or Western libraries are doing and expect our institutions to survive and thrive? Probably not. We need to adapt," he said.
That adaptation should include bringing local content into the digital environment and responding to Ghanaian students, researchers, academics and communities. Institutions that refuse to evolve risk becoming "museums of their own past", he warned.
Professor Boateng said resilient library leaders should be "architects of knowledge ecosystems", capable of turning disruption into innovation.
"Leadership is not about occupying an office. Leadership is about creating a future that is better than the present," he said.
Expanding access to knowledge
Dr Theresa Adu, University Librarian at the University of Health and Allied Sciences, said collaboration was vital because many teaching, learning and research resources were expensive.
University Librarians Ghana works with the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Ghana to secure electronic resources through collective arrangements.
"Electronic resources are very expensive, yet teaching, learning and research depend heavily on access to resources," Dr Adu said.
She said the arrangement had made electronic resources more affordable for participating universities, but called for further progress towards open science, open access and Open Educational Resources.
"Without access to information, there is no future," she said.
Open access can reduce barriers created by paywalls, while Open Educational Resources allow lecturers and students to use teaching materials without buying every resource.
Dr Adu also said librarians needed to make their contribution more visible. Referring to the African proverb about a lizard falling from a high iroko tree and praising itself when nobody else does, she said: "If we do not tell people about our work and its impact, nobody else will do it for us."
She also called for stronger succession planning. Future leaders must be identified, trained and equipped before existing library leaders move on.
"These new leaders should not simply come in without knowing what to do. They must be properly prepared, equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge, and able to perform their responsibilities effectively," she said.
Building resilience
Dr Christopher M. Owusu-Ansah, Chairman of University Librarians Ghana and University Librarian at USTED, said the conference allowed the organisation to assess its activities, identify weaknesses and plan ahead.
"We put up this meeting to evaluate our activities," he said.
The organisation represents university librarians from Ghana's public universities, including traditional and technical universities. Dr Owusu-Ansah said members should return with greater resilience.
"We want them to return with a resilient mentality and attitude one that does not yield in the face of challenges," he said.
The Covid-19 pandemic, he noted, had shown the importance of university libraries in maintaining academic continuity. When teaching and learning moved online, libraries continued supplying resources for teaching, learning and research.
"We expect our members to go back and do even more," he said.
He added that resilience also involved physical and mental wellbeing, financial planning, budgeting and strategic management.
Professor Boateng said the future of university libraries would depend not only on the technologies they adopted, but on how effectively they adapted them, protected their values and led their institutions through change.