Willie tours the library at Taman Duranda Emas.
KUCHING: Puncak Borneo MP Willie Mongin urges the local community to nurture the culture of love for reading and acquiring knowledge.
He said reading and knowledge had been recognised as the power of liberation from poverty, ignorance, materialism, negative social phenomena and other challenges adding that history had proven that the success of the Japanese nation was due to the nation’s commitment to knowledge and information.
Willie believed that programmes and activities to encourage reading and love for knowledge need to be held for all levels of society.
“If developed countries like America and France are still lamenting their society for lack of reading, we need to be more concerned because there seems to be no tradition of reading in the state and the country as a whole.
“However, it is still not too late for us to inculcate the culture among our younger generation for them discover knowledge.
“Indeed, reading and writing culture need to be nurtured among our youths who will become future leaders,” he said at a ‘Pemimpin Bersama Rakyat’ programme hosted by the Taman Duranda Emas Community Library in Siburan near here over the weekend.
Willie also believed that libraries play an important role in building a reading culture society as it is an important infrastructure that channels knowledge to the public.
He said the library is an active, creative and innovative institution that could serve the community, especially in cultivating the technology culture.
“Now I see libraries in our country or state have taken advantage of Information Technology (IT) so widely and effectively.
“This will not only teach the community on how to use IT to obtain information but helps to realise the use of information highways such as the internet very effectively,” he said.
Willie also reminded that in this rapidly changing world, libraries also need to evaluate their role from time to time to ensure that the services are provided beyond their scope and boundaries – to stay close to the community.
He said on the other hand, the librarian also play an equally important role adding that librarians should always be efficient, fast and accurate in providing the information, facts and data that the users need.
He believed librarians must also act as drivers and effective facilitators in information tracking especially in the use of IT and information drivers.
“Librarians should act as strategic managers and designers, sensitive to the environment, especially the needs of consumers.
“They should also be proactive, innovative and creative in the service; and always approaching the community and acting as a catalyst for change to the local community,” he said.
He encouraged all libraries and librarians to enhance their ‘people’s approach’ collaboration to attract local communities to utilise libraries.
He believed that as a centre of teaching, research, information and innovation, the libraries can certainly help the community by providing various programmes towards innovation.