ROADTOWN TORTOLA June 12th, 2012 -- A pleasant good morning to Principal Melissa Amy and her staff, teachers, students, guests and members of the media.
It was on December 1st of last year that I had the opportunity to tour the Elmore Stoutt High School and see for myself the condition of the facilities at this school, our largest learning institution in the territory. What was most disturbing for me was that the school library was a storage room with books packed in boxes, instead of a living space with students exploring books and having dialogue on school projects.
Beginning today, students of ESHS will no longer have to go to the Road Town Public Library to conduct research for assignments. Right here at the school, they will now have modern facilities to conduct research. With our students preparing to enter universities all across the world, it is essential that they grasp the importance of properly utilizing a library so that they can be equally successful at those institutions. That is the importance of this library today.
I know that teacher Jenny Wheatley, who started this school library in 1970 would not have been pleased at all with the condition of the library, nor would have the many other librarians that contributed to the building of this learning space such as Mrs. Valentine Lewis, Mrs. Eugiene Dawson-Glasgow, Lucile Malone, Alta-Gracia Hodge, and the present librarian, Ms Yvonne Mactavious.
Those librarians will be very glad to learn that after we realized the condition of most of the books when we opened those boxes to restock the shelves, we quickly called in a few orders and the library will very soon be completely filled with an array of books and other appropriate reading and learning material.
The nucleus of any learning institution should be its library. Whenever I go to any place of learning in the world, I judge that institution’s capabilities based on the capacity of its library. It is our school libraries that all students, learning a wide variety of subjects should go to be introduced to concepts, explore different thoughts and be provided with information to sustain their quest for knowledge.
Without functional libraries, our students suffer a grave disadvantage in a world that demands that they know more about everything.
That is why I issued my first directive as Minister of Education and Culture, to my ministry to move with swift and deliberate action to have this library redeveloped to a functional resource centre to aptly fit the educational needs and inspire the curiosity of our students, the future leaders of this territory.
I realise that my task as Minister for Education and Culture is to listen to the needs of our community, understand the present challenges of our system and the challenges faced by our education professionals, as well as to chart a course to help the Virgin Islands education system create a culture of excellence that I am convinced we are capable of producing.
Investing in this library and creating a space that will now be used as a resource centre will pay dividends to our community in a number of ways. Firstly, it immediately allows our young people to have a location for improved access to information through the many books that are presently here and the additional space for more books.
I anticipate that the research that is needed to complete schoolwork will now be done in a more comfortable environment, thus helping our students to excel and be better prepared for the next phase of their lives.
Secondly, a modern library facility is a requirement for a successful accreditation process. In order for our education system to prove that it is capable of producing globally competitive students, we must show that we have the appropriate research facilities for our students. So while this new library will serve the needs of present students, it also will be used to benefit the school’s accreditation process, furthering the certification of the quality of education received at ESHS for future students.
Thirdly, this new facility will be used as a model for what all of our school libraries should be. Modern, well-equipped, active resource centres. As we create a culture of excellence, I want our librarians, teachers, and students to remove the notion that a library is a quiet, boring facility.
At the 2008 re-opening of the Duke University Perkins Library building, a library that is considered one of the top five universities libraries in the United States, the school’s president, Dr Richard Brodhead challenged students to remake the notion that libraries should be quiet spaces. He expressed that it is in a library young minds meet with older, published thoughts for digestion and debate; a sentiment that I share. Our libraries should actively support and encourage excitement in learning for our youth.
For you our students at Elmore Stoutt High, I realize that the idea of having a library might be archaic. I mean you can simply go on amazon.com or iTunes and download most books as quickly as you can type in your passcode and make your selection.
There is even this website called Google that you can find most anything, any subject, from any country and any translation. So to some of you, it might seem strange that we are investing in such a space, despite the advances in technology.
But I want you to know that a library is much more than a space to store books. In this new facility, you will have the luxury of exploring information from any corner of the earth with access to online libraries such as the Library of Congress, as well as business, law, science, medical and financial career journals.
Understanding the importance of this generation of students, to have interactive learning experiences and teaching assisted tools such as YouTube, Ed Helper, Scholastic and Notes Master for students preparing for CXCs, can now be easily accessed in this library.
The application, sound-room, which is designed for use with headphones for special instructional lessons in music and Spanish, but also to assist some students with different learning needs at ESHS can now also be used in this library.
I expect that our librarians will run programmes to supplement the learning experiences of our students. Working in conjunction with school counselors, lunch time talks on different subjects with guest speakers can be hosted; photo displays of activities around campus and activities that are happening in our communities; introduction of new authors, and importantly, a celebration and an assured space where our students can be exposed to all writers from the Virgin Islands and the wider Caribbean.
Students, I encourage you to bring life to these walls. On your free time, instead of hanging around the school gates, enter the library door and explore new ideas, writers, hobbies and interests. The shelves of this building are filled with learning opportunities that can propel you to an ‘A’ on your next exam, but more importantly, to a life of learning. With this new facility, instead of your parents having to purchase numerous books, you will have a designated area to do your research and truly explore excellence.
I urge you to utilize this facility as much as you can. If you use it so often that we have to redevelop it in a few years, once grades are higher and the competencies of our students are further improved, I would say it is money well spent and I would not mind at all going back to beg for more money to do this all over again.
To our students, teachers and librarians, this space should never be viewed as an area to be quiet. While I do encourage students to be considerate to fellow school mates that are sharing this space, this library should be filled with students having debates and discussions, challenging theories taught by teachers, conducting research for thought provoking papers, and also learning about colleges, universities and careers.
I am confident that the quality of the educational experience offered to our students will be significantly improved with the functioning of this new library and I encourage all members of the Elmore Stoutt High School family to utilize this space to its full capacity.
This project would not have come to fruition if it were not for the hard work and dedication of a number of individuals. I would like to thank Principal Melissa Amy who led the team here at ESHS, Lorna Stevens that spearheaded this project on the Ministry’s behalf and the many private supporters that realized the value and importance of this learning space to our students and our community.
Our building contractors - Linton Tony, Ricky Cameron, Charles Cooper - worked with the Department of Education and the staff at ESHS to ensure that what we see here today met the requirements to help our students fully utilize this space.
On the technology end, we were blessed to have a significant contribution by LIME. The telecommunications company proved that it continues to prove its willingness to support and advance our community in its corporate giving. Students, LIME is providing free of cost, 20 computers and high-speed internet that is now available in this library. I am told that once in this library, you will have the fastest connection to the internet on this campus, even with Wi-Fi connection for your personal devices in the new student lounge.
So on behalf of our students I would like to personally thank the LIME’s general manager, Sean Auguste, Marketing Manager, Janette Brin and other staff members that quickly responded to our intentions after learning of the library’s redevelopment efforts.
The installation and set up of these computers were supported by government’s Department of Information and Technology, who will be charged with managing the filtering of this network’s content.
Ernest “Popeye” Scatliffe, who continues to support ESHS in many different ways, keenly provided most of the furnishing that you see here today. Dr Charles Wheatley and his staff at National Education Services for supplying additional books as well as the family of J. R. O’Neal for their donation to improving the reading selection for our students. ESHS alumni art classes of 2009, 2010 and 2011 contributed the artwork.
On behalf of our government, our education system and importantly the young faces that are in the audience today, our students; I want to thank you for your work and your support of this project. As we seek to create a culture of excellence in our education system, I ask you to continue to support us and together we will improve the state of affairs for all that call these Virgin Islands home.
Thank you.
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