Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River has assured that the dilapidated Cross River Library will be renovated and digitised.
Otu gave the assurance in Calabar on Tuesday during a working visit to the library complex in the company of the deputy governor, Peter Odey.
The state library, opened on April 17, 1989, during the administration of former governor, Clement Ebri, has remained in a very poor state since 2015.
The governor also assured students and researchers that his administration would ensure the facility remained a functional knowledge-based and information technology compliant e-library.
"Libraries are important and we will ensure that we have an e-library that is functional, digital and would serve the needs of students and researchers.
"I am not unaware of the financial constraints we face as a state but we will look at what is feasible as quickly as possible and work to get the library up and running.
"This is because libraries as centres of knowledge are pivotal to growth and development," Otu said.
The Director, Cross River Library Services, Ene Awatt, expressed gratitude at the visit of the governor. She said that the management had hoped for such an opportunity to present the challenges of the library.
Awatt said that there was hope that they would soon have a befitting and functional library with an e-section.
"We have computers locked up and hopefully, they are still functional to be put to use.
"Beyond the physical repairs, there is a need for manpower development to meet the needs of a model library," she said.