We lack both the vision and the administrative capacity to mine our resources. There is a thread on Anguilla Forum. It consists, as I write this, of three posts enquiring about the possibility of donating children’s books to
There used to be a number of book projects, all uncoordinated with each other.
1. Teacher Art was getting books at the
2. A lady in
3. We used to have an energetic and enthusiastic young national librarian. He is now, to his sorrow, our Labour Commissioner. His replacement is still too new for us to know what sort of vision he has. If he has one, he will not yet have had enough time for his plans to have been put into effect.
4. The Anguilla Community Foundation was providing reimbursement funding for those who sent books via the Post Office’s Home Shopping scheme. They had no rules. The Post Office charge is the same for one book as for a cubic foot of books.Well-meaning people were shipping single used books with a
5. The Seven Seas Cruising Association shipped books to
6. Four years ago, the Rotary Club of Anguilla made an effort to bring in used books from closing-down schools in
Such initiatives sometimes uncover a single donor who provides a massive amount of good stuff. It also sometimes happens that people send all their rubbish to
It is the Librarian’s job to co-ordinate this. He could be coerced or insulted into doing this job. But, does he have the staff with the ability to do it right?
This is the tip of a large iceberg of visitors who have a genuine interest in the people of our island, and the means and interest to help in some way, but who don’t know what to do or who to trust. They are an untapped possible source of membership of our voluntary organizations. But, we lack the administrative skills to marshal the potential. None of us outside the tourism sector makes any real effort to communicate with visiting philanthropists who could provide nearly unlimited assistance for the education of our children.
That should not be surprising. If the standard of a country’s public library is a barometer of the nation’s learning, then
My
Check out for yourselves the shelves of the public library of
Don’t even ask about the library at the High School.
You should not be surprised if I tell you how few of our Form 6 students have the ability to write at a standard above that expected fifty years ago throughout the West Indies of Form 2 pupils.
Is the reading of a book doomed by the Internet? There are those who think so. I still remember too many power outages to trust the computer completely.
ReplyDeleteI remember once a grandmother from the States that tried to bring down new reading books when she found out that her grandson was learning to read from mimeographed pages. She didn't get clearance from the govt. beforehand. She got a royal run-around. They couldn't accept books for just one school, they wanted her to bring books for all schools. (On her schoolteacher's salary that was impossible.) They finally settled on rotating the books through the school system. The experience rather discouraged any further attempts.
There are many who would gladly contribute. I do tend to agree that used books are generally not acceptable. For years, books in the school were obsolete ones sent from Mother England...
But, if there were to be a site where people could donate funds toward books--and be assured that the books would actually get to the libraries, I think they would find donations.
Don, is this a cause you're willing to take up? If it is, I think I can help. Maybe? I know Tropical will give me a good deal on shipping, and if not, the freight costs are fairly cheap anyway. - Scotty
ReplyDeleteSchools should focus on teaching reading. If one can read, one can learn any subject. It is an everlasting shame that young people are going through the school system and cannot read worth a darn!
ReplyDeleteI am an adult who consider myself highly educated. I have been one of the beneficiaries of books that were donated to Anguilla in the 1970's by the Ranfurly Library and other sources. I am not sure if the books came out of Canada or out of the UK.
ReplyDeleteI also know that just after the revolution (with the building of "Cosely School" many of us got added reading material that were donated by schools and libraries from Canada and the U.S..
We did not consider the material useless. It made a difference in the lives of those that had access to the material. It is only those who lack education and also lack value for education would make the negative statements about donated reading material.
Did you know that the United States of America was *more* literate *before* the advent of compulsory education than *after*?
ReplyDeleteOne wonders what would happen to Anguilla's youth if they were not *forced* to be in school, and, instead, were allowed to work when they were old enough to *choose* to do so.
Or if Anguillian parents were allowed to homeschool their children.
Or, if private schools were allowed to go into business without the requirement of one of the founders being, say, related to a high government official. Or without any regulation whatsoever except market discipline.
Or, if the government sold off its schools to the highest bidder and saved itself a little money in the process.
In this age of ubiquitous internetworks and practically free, yes, "free as in beer", information, the "need" for the state to warehouse children and train them up to be nice, orderly factory employees seems a little long in the tooth, don't you think? Wouldn't children be better served to be with their parents more, and, perhaps, to learn the morals and manners their parents have themselves?
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ReplyDeleteSo wonderful to see people are interested in bringing books to the island. Juday alerted me of the posts. Islandbooks.ai is still operating but with the loss of Teacher Art and Bob Greene unable to be located (administrator of website) the project has slowed. Teacher Paula at the Allyson Allwyn Primary in the West End has been trying to keep the program going. Books and school supplies can be dropped at the school and they will be distibuted equitably amongst the schools. The concept originally was for all guests to bring a few books in their beachbags. People were more generous and wanted to send boxes. Shipping was a problem which was resolved for a bit with a postal arrangement supported by the Anguillan Fondation. I don't think that is still in effect. The AHTA was instrumental and supportive and had a drop off site. I am not sure if they still do. Most hotels will be happy to direct you to any school nearby for a more informal dropoff. So please bring books if you can. They will be appreciated by all. I will be happy to answer further questions. My email is on the website. www.islandbooks.ai
All the best and thank-you.