The public library for East End/Long Look community has been relocated to the Wheatley building in Major Bay, following the closure of the original location to allow for infrastructural work on the building. Photo GIS/File

Both Premier Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley and Minister for Education, Youth Affairs and Sports Honourable, Hon Shari B. De Castro (AL) were present for the opening. Photo GIS/File

According to information, the new location boasts a ramp and will be easily accessible by physically challenged persons, in keeping with the standard for library buildings worldwide.

Minister for Education, Youth Affairs and Sports Honourable Sharie B. De Castro congratulated the Chief Librarian and her team on the reopening and spoke of the importance of public access to information in relation to the mandate of the ministry.

“We are really appreciative of this step to create a public space where reading can come alive. Important is how close it is to the Willard Wheatley Primary School, and it creates an opportunity for the students to visit and truly experience what it means to have a library and to make it an integral part of our education system once again.”

Public libraries remain important to nation building - Premier 

Meanwhile, Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) also addressed the library’s opening and spoke of how integral public libraries are to nation-building.

“The foundation of the success of the [British] Virgin Islands is education, and you cannot have education without having reading and libraries to be able to consume that information. I grew up in the library. I know the power of libraries to open up the minds of our young people to explore the possibilities way beyond the shores of the Virgin Islands and to engage your imagination to think of all the possibilities that exist for an individual.”

Meanwhile, Chief Librarian, Ms Suzanne S. Greenaway said the space in the building will allow for a better organisation of the book collection and other furnishings.

Ms Greenaway added that the library will now provide two small units which it did not have at its previous location: a Caribbean Studies Unit where Caribbean and local materials will be housed and computer sections where customers can access the Internet, check email, do word processing and print their documents.

She added that the ambience in the library and the aesthetically pleasant layout will be pleasing to the public.