A comfy library, which can take children through time and around the world with the flip of a few pages, is the result of a $1 million Ministry of Education grant to St Margaret’s Primary School.
St Margaret’s located along Camp Street yesterday formally opened its library which has been in the making since last year. The institution is among the top ranking primary schools in the country.
Acting Head Teacher Georgina Luis during her speech at the ceremony stated that the library was one of the things the school had been “dreaming about and working on for years”. The school improvement project for a new library at St. Margaret’s was one of the first to be approved by the Education Ministry under its Literacy Programme, she said.
Schools were required to identify and submit an improvement project to the ministry for examination to decide whether the $1 million would be granted, Acting Deputy Head Teacher Violet Carrington explained. Ten primary schools located in Georgetown have already benefited from this programme.
The library, according to Carrington, was a project the school had been working on before they were awarded the grant. She stressed that reading was one of the most significant areas in a child’s educational development.
“There are some children who can’t read well and there are parents who can’t read either so they are not able to provide help,” Carrington said. “This library will encourage children to read and we recognized it as one of the school’s greatest needs.”
Carrington told Stabroek News that St. Margaret’s had formerly employed a system where donors could give used books for distribution among less fortunate students. However, the system failed since the children would take the books home and toss them aside.
The Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of the school has generated funding to employ a junior librarian and an assistant for six months. After the period elapses, the Ministry of Education has promised to keep one of the employees on their payroll.
Having a room full of books and someone to monitor and assist the children, Carrington stressed, will definitely do wonders for both the weak and above average reader. Community Involvement Specialist attached to the ministry Dr. Anthony Hunt approved the school’s project, Carrington disclosed.
Hunt, who was among several Education Ministry officials present at yesterday’s proceedings, noted the importance of encouraging reading. The former UK-based Guyanese expressed his delight at being given the opportunity to return here and do something of worth for the expanded community.
Meanwhile, Guyanese children’s writer Maureen Mendonca presented a copy of her new book to St. Margaret’s library. Adventures of the Swan Children, Mendonca said, was among a list of books chosen by the popular Macmillan Publishers to revive their line of children’s fantasy fiction.
The St. Margaret’s library is an airy but comfy one room affair with shelves lining most of the wall space. It already has a range of children’s fiction available for the students but is lacking in academic publications.
“What is a library without books?” Carrington questioned. St. Margaret’s, the Acting Deputy Head said, is welcoming donations especially of text books for grades one to six.
A Staff Room was also handed over to the school’s teachers yesterday. The staff quarters was funded by the St Margaret’s PTA.
