Community Libraries: Roles, Sustainability and the Encouragement of Reading in Ghana

Abstract

In response to an ex pressed need by their clients, public libraries in Western countries inh'oduced community information
service to meet these needs. This was at a time when public library service was almost universally available in the western world. There was, however, the need to focus on certain segments of the community which required information to solve specific problems.
This shift in emphasis of information provision took place at about the same time when the library profession started to move away from the traditional "functions" of public libraries to provide specific services for specific communities