Shell’s N1bn Port Harcourt library excites literary enthusiasts

Shell Petroleum Develop­ment Company has donat­ed a modern e-library to the Port Harcourt Literary Society. This would enable the society to open its doors to book lovers and other literary enthusiasts.

The N1.03 billion library is one of the N2 billion social invest­ment projects Shell exclusively sponsored in the Niger Delta to mark Nigeria’s centenary anni­versary. The others are a hospital and sports centre in Bayelsa and Delta states respectively.

Shell spent N790 million on the project that was implemented via a Memorandum of Under­standing with the Port Harcourt Library Society, which contrib­uted an additional N240 million.

“SPDC invested exclusively on this library project because of its strong conviction that it will deliver significant benefits and positively impact the lives of the people,” said Osagie Okunbor, managing director of The Shell Petroleum and Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) and Country Chair Shell Companies in Nigeria, at the commissioning ceremony. “We are pleased to deliver an ultra-modern public library that would rank as one of the biggest and most IT-driven in the country. The feedback we are receiving shows that the liter­ary scene in the Garden City has already changed.”

Nigeria’s National Librar­ian, Lenrie Aina told journalists that the facility, named Port Har­court Literary Society Library is the ‘first complete public library in Nigeria,’ because, aside from Shell ensuring supply of power, books and cooling, every comfort of book lovers was considered in the design and construction of the library.

Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Ipalibo Banigo, in a speech delivered by her Senior Spe­cial Assistant, Inegogo Fubara, thanked SPDC for supporting the state government’s desire to pro­vide sustainable and affordable education to the people.

Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Port Harcourt Literary Soci­ety, Chidi Amuta said the library was designed to be the heart of the Port Harcourt Book Centre that was originally conceived to commemorate the recognition of Port Harcourt by UNESCO as the 2014 World Book Capital.

He added: “Other structures awaiting donor evaluation and sponsorship include a writers’ hostel, an event centre/exhibi­tion hall and a theatre. The Book Centre, like the Muson Centre in Lagos along which it is modelled, is conceived as a centre of culture and enlightenment.”