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.
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