Appeal for National Library at Coleridge Street to be up, running

One retired educator would like to see the National Library situated at Coleridge Street, The City back in operation.

Past Principal of Deacons Primary School, Shirley Marshall called on corporate Barbados to assist with its renovations so this could come to past. She made the appeal after thanking sponsors for the support given to see that Deacons Primary once again had a library at the school.

“Are we really serious about reading? What has happened to our [National] Library? I was doing a bit of research about the library. It is the oldest one out of six. There is one in Guyana, St. Vincent and St. Lucia. These libraries were set up by Mr. Andrew Carnegie and ours is the oldest and as far as I understand and the only one that is not functioning. The building is just there, so I want [to] know if I can put in a little plug for the people who help me to get this one, if they would help us with our public library. I would be very, very happy. We have to get serious; we have to know what we want.”

Marshall’s remarks came as she addressed last Wednesday’s official opening and dedication ceremony of The Shirley Marshall Library. This reading room named in her honour is located on the compound of Deacons Primary.

In addition to stating she felt “honoured” and “important” to be recognised, Marshall told the gathering that one of her “dreams was always to have a library because I feel very strongly about language”.

She further used the occasion to point out that reading needed to be given greater priority. She also highlighted how individuals can become better readers.

“Books are very, very important. We need books, we need books and we need to teach reading [and] we need to teach comprehension. In most places comprehension skills are not being taught. People think they come automatically but we need reading and the way you become good at reading is by reading. I used to read as a child morning, noon and night.”