The National Library in its activities to mark its centenary, has begun reviving the interest of the Guyanese populace in reading and, by extension, is developing the literacy level.

Awardees who participated in the centennial competitions of the National Library with National Library officials, including Chief Librarian Ms. Jillian Thompson, centre in the second row.

This was according to Chief Librarian Ms. Jillian Thompson who pointed out that the response to the activities shows that people’s interest in literacy has been stimulated.

“Our activities have had and continue to have a positive impact,” Thompson asserted.

The Chief Librarian made these statements Friday at the National Library’s award ceremony for its centennial competitions at the Library’s Conference Room.

All of the competitions began in February and will run until the end of the year.

Thompson pointed out the centennial activities will continue in the new year as they were well responded to.

The celebrations were held under the theme ‘Empowering the Nation’ and the activities included:

* A photographic exhibition on the National Library titled ‘Through the Years’;

* An essay/ short story competition;

* A debating competition;

* A games evening;

* Literary evenings;

* A grand ball, and

* The award ceremony, which was held on Friday.

The Chief Librarian pointed out that the next activity will be an Open Day at the National Library on September 9, which incidentally is the day the library was commissioned in 1909.

“The main objective of the library’s celebrations is to enhance literacy and promote a reading culture among the Guyanese people,” Thompson said.

At Friday’s event, the Chief Librarian urged awardees to continue in their literary pursuits and encourage others in the same way.

Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education, Ms. Donna Chapman, reiterated this call to the awardees and pointed out that literacy, which basically is reading, writing and counting, is an essential needed by everyone.

“Literacy development is a life-long pursuit,” Chapman posited.

To this end, she applauded the National Library on the work, diligence and passion that has been poured into its effort to restore the literacy level in Guyana.

To the awardees, she said, the continued dedication to learning, moreso reading, will enable the advancement of their prospects in the future.

Several of the awardees concurred with the education official and highlighted that there were, indeed, benefits from being dedicated to reading.

“I was not much of an avid reader before, but the library’s activity not only encouraged me to read, but also developed my competitiveness, my fluency, as well as my public speaking abilities,” said Dominic Park.

Park, a Queen’s College student, was the first place winner in the Champion Readers’ competition, 15 to 17 category.

Zimeena Rasheed, another awardee who placed first in the same competition in the 12 to 14 category, stated that the experience also assisted her in various ways.

“My vocabulary was developed and I was able to learn, and it was a challenge that I enjoyed very much,” Rasheed said.

Another teen, Ashieka Francois, added that the experience was exciting and caused her to “love books more.”

Chairperson on the Committee of the National Library, Mr. Petamber Persaud, in an invited comment, stated that these responses were satisfactory and what the library was hoping for.

“We laid the groundwork and it all paid off nicely,” Persaud said. The National Library’s mission is to satisfy, both nationally and internationally, the information and recreational needs of the library’s users through the collection, organisation and dissemination and preservation of information in printed and other formats.

The organisation’s services range from lending and reference, inter-library loans, request service, prison service, bookmobile service and reader’s advisory, among others.