The federal government has been urged to give priority to libraries in an attempt to fight disinformation and misinformation in the country.
The Director, Communications and Programmes of Youth Initiative for Sustainable Human Development in Africa (YISHDA), Agbara Moses, disclosed this at the Media and Information Literacy for Public Libraries Programme organised by YISHDA, with support from the United States Embassy, Abuja.
He said libraries were imperative to curbing misinformation and disinformation, urging parents to encourage their children to regularly visit libraries and not only rely on social media.
He said, “It is high time information is disseminated accurately. If we can ensure that trusted sources of information like libraries get quality accurate information then it can be channeled through which youth can access credible information which they can equally share with their friends. Information is central to helping youths understand what the future holds for them. It starts with them having a strategy or specific information that can empower them.”
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On her part, the Director, Education Resource Centre (ERC) of the FCT, Hajiya Nemat Abdulrahim, described the library as one of the safest places for people to get accurate information, noting that that could be threatened if librarians were not well-trained or provided with relevant skills to guide against misinformation and disinformation.
She said, “This programme is timely and necessary to train librarians on how to identify misinformation and to be drivers of dissemination of accurate information.”
The Chairperson of the Nigerian Library Association (NLA) in the FCT, Folashade Adepoju, commended the organisers, saying the programme would help in transforming librarians from bookkeepers to fact-checkers.
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