In an earlier post about the re-opening of the Public/National Library I mentioned that the Minister with responsibility for the Public/National Library spoke of the dearth of trained library professionals island-wide. Well the government is looking to remedy that situation a evident in the offerings in the 2010 round of National Development Scholarships. This year's scholarship offerings include Library and Information Science, Conservation Studies and Archives.
National Development Scholarships are directed to candidates pursuing courses considered to be of critical importance to national development. Winners are provided with state funds for the duration of their academic studies.
Good news indeed.
Showing posts with label librarianship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label librarianship. Show all posts
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Sunday, February 01, 2009
More on the Re-opening of the Public Library
The official re-opening of the Main Branch of the Public/National Library was held Friday January 30th. Speaking at the associated ceremony Minister of Community Development and Culture Steve Blackett noted that the re-opening was considered one of the highlights to date of his ministry. The Library had been closed since August 2005 and as Minister Blackett once stated the incident was a national shame for a country which boasts of a 98% literacy rate. So it is understandable that he was proud to have the library up and running in just over a year of his DLP government coming to office.
At this ceremony the minister spoke of plans to invest in electronic resources to improve the availability and quality of services to the users. Mention was made of the acute shortage (island wide) of professional librarians and conservators. I look forward to seeing a few National Development Scholarships being awarded in these areas. I know of two persons who want to be trained but are unable to get funding to do so.
The Main Branch of the Public/National Library was formerly housed in a Carnegie Building; one of the few in the Caribbean and dating back to 1905. There are plans according to the minister to refurbish this building before the end of the first term in office. A national treasure such of this should never have been allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair. The Barbados National Trust I am sure will take an interest in this project.
Much was said and promised at that re-opening ceremony. I look forward to the follow through.
More on the re-opening is available here.
At this ceremony the minister spoke of plans to invest in electronic resources to improve the availability and quality of services to the users. Mention was made of the acute shortage (island wide) of professional librarians and conservators. I look forward to seeing a few National Development Scholarships being awarded in these areas. I know of two persons who want to be trained but are unable to get funding to do so.
The Main Branch of the Public/National Library was formerly housed in a Carnegie Building; one of the few in the Caribbean and dating back to 1905. There are plans according to the minister to refurbish this building before the end of the first term in office. A national treasure such of this should never have been allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair. The Barbados National Trust I am sure will take an interest in this project.
Much was said and promised at that re-opening ceremony. I look forward to the follow through.
More on the re-opening is available here.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Blogger survey results
Meredith Farkas over at Information Wants to be Free conducted a survey of people in the library and information science profession who blog. She conducted a similar survey in 2005.
Some results for the 2007 survey are now available on her website. I find it quite interesting. I note however that only 2 respondents were from the Bahamas/Caribbean. And I believe I am one of the two since I took the survey :-).
I am sending out a call to the Bahamian blogger. There seems to be so few Caribbean/West Indian library bloggers on line. I would be happy if you would make yourself known to me.
Some results for the 2007 survey are now available on her website. I find it quite interesting. I note however that only 2 respondents were from the Bahamas/Caribbean. And I believe I am one of the two since I took the survey :-).
I am sending out a call to the Bahamian blogger. There seems to be so few Caribbean/West Indian library bloggers on line. I would be happy if you would make yourself known to me.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
New Publication - Caribbean Libraries
One of the more important happening in the last six months has been the publication of
Caribbean Libraries in the 21st Century: Changes, Challenges, and Choices.
This publication provides a multicultural, multiethnic perspective on the state of and development of libraries, library services and librarianship in the Caribbean region. It is only the 3rd such publication and this is by far the most comprehensive and inclusive. It incorporates twenty-five articles by forty contributers. I co-author a chapter in this work. Its an imporatant contribution to the literature of librarianship of and in the Caribbean region. Have a look at the TOC.
The editors Cheryl Peltier-Davis and Shamin Renwick received an Acurialean Award for the publication.
Caribbean Libraries in the 21st Century: Changes, Challenges, and Choices.
This publication provides a multicultural, multiethnic perspective on the state of and development of libraries, library services and librarianship in the Caribbean region. It is only the 3rd such publication and this is by far the most comprehensive and inclusive. It incorporates twenty-five articles by forty contributers. I co-author a chapter in this work. Its an imporatant contribution to the literature of librarianship of and in the Caribbean region. Have a look at the TOC.
The editors Cheryl Peltier-Davis and Shamin Renwick received an Acurialean Award for the publication.
Friday, August 03, 2007
I'm back
It has been six months since I last posted. I had intended to take a break to review the purpose and by extension the content of this blog but I never intended for it to be so long. Truth be told I am no closer to deciding what type of blog - strictly professional or quasi-professional this is to be. I do know that I want to continue working on this blog, to promote and provide a forum for Caribbean librarians and librarianship. More on that in due course.
As can be expected so much has happened since January 30th. And I will in due course be a posting on these developments.
As can be expected so much has happened since January 30th. And I will in due course be a posting on these developments.
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