By Clive W McWatt
Clive Wayne McWatt was born in Guyana in 1946. He left in 1963 to continue studies in the UK. After postgraduate studies in Library and Information Science he joined the Shell Group Companies as Librarian, Shell Centre London and Information Manager. After a varied career with Shell he is now retired and lives in London.
Five years ago The National Library of Guyana celebrated its centenary having opened its doors to the public in 1909 as the Carnegie Public Free Library. But let it not be forgotten that there were already in existence private libraries in Guyana dating back to the 19th century. One ‘other’ library of great significance was that of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society (RA&CS) which by 1909 had already celebrated its Diamond Jubilee.
The RA&CS was founded in Georgetown in 1844 and occupied one of the city’s prime sites on Company Path extending from High Street to Water Street. The Society became the focus for intellectual, scientific, commercial and cultural life for the planters and the elite in British Guiana, and one of the Society’s founding objects was the