THE National Library, yesterday, hosted its annual awards ceremony for its yearly competitions at the Rupununi Room of the Hotel Tower on Main Street, Georgetown.

The National Library partners with various stakeholders (businesses), yearly, to hold various competitions including the Annual Quiz Competition, the Debating Competition, the Annual Champion Readers competition, and the Annual Essay and Short Story competition.
Delivering the feature address at the ceremony was Director of the National Centre for Educational Research and Development (NCERD), Mrs. Jennifer Cumberbatch, who charged the students to continue reading.
She noted that literacy is a key requirement for any country’s development, and commended the National Library on the various programmes it presents to keep students positively occupied.
She said that, from a tender age, parents should help their children develop the habit of reading.
Also giving brief remarks was Director of Prisons (ag), Mr. Welton Trotz, who opined that more businesses should come on board and partner with the Library to sponsor more programmes than it currently does. He pointed out that the female population is presently dominating the male population in terms of literacy, and this should not be, because it should be proportionate.
In closing, he urged the students to make the sacrifice of giving up one hour of television for the purpose of reading a book that has captured their interest.
For the National Library and Gafoor’s Annual Quiz Competition 2013, high scorers were Christian Pile, Cleopatra John, Divya Inderjeet, Anniesha Seerattan, and Divina Singh, among others.
The National Library’s Annual Debating Competition 2013 (Inter-secondary school) saw the following persons as best speakers: Ashana Singh, Laurice White, Christiana Issardeen, Herbon Edwards, Lois Anthony and Sarah Deokarran.
Digicel and the National Library’s Champion Readers Competition 2013 saw the following persons emerge as champion readers: 9-11 age bracket include Ashley Drakes and Kirsten Caesar; the 12-14 age bracket saw Ruth Mandbodh and Petra Langevine; the 15-17 age bracket saw Deborah Lambert; the 18-25 age group saw Jamal La Rose and Rowena Sandy; and the 26-and-over age group saw Nandi Kellman, Lisa Agard and Monique Gibson emerge  winners.
The P&P Insurance Brokers Annual Essay and Short Story Competition 2013 was won as follows: Age 9-11: Christina Pile of Mae’s Primary; Asrel Dasrath of Mae’s Primary, and Jelani Tappin of St Margaret’s Primary.
Age 12-14 saw Arsel Jones, Vanni Ramnarain, Ruth Manbodh and Candacie Holder, all from Bishop’s High School.
Meanwhile, the National Library took the time to acknowledge its sponsors, such as JR Burgers, Digicel, Gafoors, Hotel Tower, Rent-A-Tent, Spicy Dish, ANSA McAL, Giftland OfficeMax; and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, among others.