The Role of Schools and Public Libraries in Promoting Reading Habit among Children and Adolescents in Nigeria
Reading is very vital to progress and development human life and its in the development of children and adolescents cannot be over emphasized. The paper, therefore examines the role of school and public libraries in promoting reading habits among children and adolescents. In an age of modern information and communication technologies (ICTS), with proliferation of televisions and video players, it was uncommon to see children and adolescents carrying books to read. Technology is slowing but very steadying taking over the control of children and adolescents lives and cultivation of a good reading habit has gone with the wind. They have gradually abandoned book reading to pursue interests in movie watching and recently, surfing and chatting on the net. Empty school and public libraries are a silent witness of this dread picture. There are diverse ways of promoting reading habits among groups of young people which include programmes such as clubs, mobile reading tents, book talk, and story hours, among others. School and public libraries play a leading role in the reading habit of children and adolescents. The challenges and implication of poor reading habits were discussed. The paper concludes by admonishing parents to encourage the provision of reading materials and utilization to avoid information famine. Key words: Children and Adolescents, Reading Habit, School and Public Libraries, Nigeria.
The Role of Public Libraries in Literacy Education
This document deals with literacy in the context of a new concept of social development, where public libraries have an important social mission to fulfill. After analyzing the problem of illiteracy as an expression of unequal access to social wealth, information resources and knowledge, it defines functional literacy as a process which enables individuals to participate in social development and change. To this effect, it proposes two lines of action for public libraries: as an ally of institutions and organizations which carry out literacy activities and as a service unit, which can provide information resources to people participating in literacy education. It concludes by affirming that the public library is a vindication of democracy, and that it should contribute to incorporate individuals to social development, so as to guarantee a better life, where «Education for All» will be a reality
Experimental study on bond behavior between high-strength grout and deformed steel bars
Abstract Engineers use high-strength grout to connect precast concrete members for its low shrinkage and good fluidity. This paper designed 87 central pull-out specimens using the control variable method to investigate the influence of factors on the rebar-grout bond property such as compressive strength, steel grade, bar diameter, transverse stirrups, and bond length. The test result showed that improving grout compressive strength (85.8 MPa–122.7 MPa) cannot improve the bond strength, which was different from the previous conclusions of concrete pull-out tests. Simplified formulas were presented for calculating the characteristic values of bond strength, residual strength, peak slip, and relative slip of load-holding platform based on parameter analysis. Then, a constitutive model was proposed to predict the full-range bond stress-slip curve of high-strength grout and steel bar specimens from bearing to failure. Finally, FEA models were established to evaluate the applicability and accuracy of the constitutive model.