The National Library Service is more relevant today than ever, says director Jennifer Yarde.
Speaking to the DAILY NATION recently during a literacy fair at Golden Square Freedom Park, The City, she said that contrary to the belief that modern technology had rendered libraries obsolete, nothing could be further from the truth.
“We want to let the public know that literacy and the library are very relevant in the 21st century,” Yarde said.
“Some people believe that because you have a tablet at home and you have all these devices, the library is not relevant, but it is even more relevant now because we have the resources that you may not have; we have access to more material than you may have at home.
“We have the Expo database. We have thousands of journals, books, and lots of material. We also have a lot of information in the reference department that you will not find online. So anybody who is doing serious research has to come to the library. Children who are doing CXC have to come to the library and do research. Everything is not on the internet.”
Yarde also said the library was doing a lot of literacy activities in schools and the community. They engaged in monthly bus tours, story hours every Saturday, book launches promoting local authors, digital literacy classes for seniors and movie nights coinciding with We Gatherin’. We are more active than ever; we are far from obsolete.”
Yarde said the fair was in celebration of International Literacy Day, which is being observed today in recognition of literacy as a human right. Participants included authors, vendors, the Confucius Institute of the University of the West Indies and more.
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