BASSETERRE St.Kitts, March 23rd 2011 - On Wednesday, 16th March, 2011, Mr. Burnell A. Nisbett, Immediate Past President of the Rotaract Club of St. Kitts presented a new Canon Pixma MP495 all in one printer, scanner and copier and a number of used books to the Saddlers Secondary School Library.
Acting principal, Ms. Adina Richards accepted the gifts and thanked Mr. Nisbett on behalf of the school. Also on hand to witness the presentation were two members of the Rotaract Club, Mr. Melvin Edenojie and Mr. Emmanel Obulor, a small number of students and the school’s librarian, Mrs. Jeanette Maitland. Awareness of the need for the donated equipment stemmed from a fund raising campaign launched by the school’s librarian since January, 2011.
Recognizing the positive impact which a school library program can have on students’ achievement, the school intends to implement an active, student-centred, unified school library program. The program will be an integral part of the instructional program at the school and it will provide a variety of services to students, teachers and eventually to parents and the community.
The principal objective of the program will be to promote the school’s mission and to support the curriculum by teaching students information literacy skills that are essential for producing independent learners. Among other things, the acquisition of information literacy skills will enable students to:
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Determine the extent of information needed
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Access needed information effectively and efficiently
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Evaluate information and its sources critically
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Incorporate selected information into their knowledge base
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Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
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Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally.
In addition, the program will promote the importance and pleasure of recreational reading.
A space, which is quite conducive to research, study, reading and instruction has been established to house the library. In addition, the basic furniture is present. There is also a trained librarian who will implement and manage the library program. However, there is a need for print materials, multimedia resources and equipment in order to bring these plans to fruition.
The principal, staff and pupils of the Saddlers Secondary School are happy that the Rotaract Club of St. Kitts has responded to this need and would like to thank them for the kind gesture. A special thank you is also extended to the following organizations that have also made contributions which will aid in the implementation of our school library program:
Mention must also be made of a few other organizations that have contacted us and promised to review our request for funding/materials for the library. To you, we also say thank you. Finally, to those who have not responded as yet, we await a favourable response as we are still in need of quite an extensive number of materials. Undoubtedly, your contribution will help us in our endeavour to maximize learning opportunities at the Saddlers Secondary School.
