KUMASI – University Librarians and their deputies from Ghana’s public universities met at the University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (USTED) in Kumasi on 30 September and 1 October 2026 for the 42nd Annual General Meeting and Conference of University Librarians Ghana (ULG). The theme was “Leading the Change: Developing Resilient Library Leaders for a Transforming Academic Landscape.”
Libraries are changing, not disappearing
Keynote speaker Engr. Prof. Humphrey Danso, Dean of the School of Graduate Studies at USTED, rejected fears that artificial intelligence will make libraries redundant. “The library is not becoming obsolete. The library is becoming different,” he said. He noted that institutional repositories, research data services and virtual reference already show libraries growing into wider knowledge ecosystems. The bigger test, he argued, is leadership, because technology achieves little without capable people behind it.
Adapt, don’t copy
USTED’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Isaac Boateng, who chaired the opening ceremony and represented the Special Guest of Honour, the Vice Chancellor of USTED, Prof Frederick Kwaku Sarfo, said the real choice before librarians was whether to lead change or merely react to it. He used the mixed fortunes of retailers in Ghana’s supermarket industry as an example and cautioned against copying Western library models wholesale. Instead, he urged libraries to adapt technology to local needs. Institutions that refuse to evolve, he warned, risk becoming “museums of their own past.”
Dr Theresa Adu, University Librarian of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, pointed to ULG’s partnership with CARLIGH, which lets universities share the high cost of electronic resources. She encouraged members to push further into open access and Open Educational Resources, to make the impact of their work visible, and to prepare successors well ahead of time.
Honouring past leaders
On the opening day, ULG presented citations to four former executives who helped steer the association through more than a decade of change.
Dr Hawa Osman served as Secretary for two terms, from 2018 to 2023. Her citation called her “the ear of the organisation” for listening closely and giving honest counsel. It compared her support for the leadership to Aaron and Hur holding up the hands of Moses, and credited her organisational skill with keeping the Secretariat running.
Dr Theresa L. Adu, Chairperson from 2021 to 2023, was honoured for reviving the association at a time when University Librarians and their Deputies had little hope it could be revived. Her citation highlighted the decision to open ULG membership to technical universities, which enlarged and strengthened the body.
Dr Mac-Anthony Cobblah, Chairman from 2023 to 2025, was recognised for leading “a forum of hope” and guiding ULG towards innovation and service.
Dr Gloria Bosomtwi Amoah, Secretary from 2023 to 2025, was commended for her dedication to the Secretariat and for keeping the association’s records available through a period of transition.
In presenting the citations, Dr Owusu-Ansah thanked the honourees on behalf of the membership. He told them ULG was “a better body because of your leadership and your selfless service.”
Workshops
Members took part in two capacity-building workshops: one on academic self-publishing, led by Dr Michael Ato Essuman of KNUST, and another on staff establishment, led by Dr Mac-Anthony Cobblah, University Librarian of the University of Cape Coast.
A stronger professional body
Chairman of the University Librarians Ghana and University Librarian of USTED, Dr Christopher M. Owusu-Ansah, said the meeting gave the association a chance to review its activities, find its weak points and plan ahead. He recalled how university libraries kept teaching and research going when campuses moved online during the COVID-19 pandemic, and said he expected members to do even more in future.
Resilience, he added, should cover librarians’ own physical and mental wellbeing, personal finances and strategic management, as well as the performance of their libraries. “We want them to return with a resilient mentality and attitude,” he said.
In his welcome address, Dr Owusu-Ansah also said he wants ULG to grow beyond its role as a think tank into a professional body able to champion the cause of academic and professional librarians across the tertiary sector.
