Residents of Virgin Gorda can once again enjoy the benefits of the Public Library Services, as the doors to the facility were opened on June 28.

The Virgin Gorda Community Library was forced to close its doors because of the storms of 2017. Since then, efforts have been made by the Government of the Virgin Islands to restore services for the benefit of the community.

Minister for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports, Honourable Sharie B. de Castro is happy to see the library re-opened and encourages persons to continue to use the public libraries as a source of accurate and reliable information.

Honourable de Castro said, “Libraries preserve cultural heritage and history, offer free educational resources, promote literacy, provide access to technology, and foster a sense of safety and community.”

The Education Minister further referred to libraries as a space that facilitates research and learning as well as collaboration through the discussion of plans and the development of ideas.

Meanwhile, Chief Librarian Ms. Suzanne Greenaway, says that she is pleased to see the Public Library Services being restored.

She said, “I am happy to see the reopening of the Virgin Gorda Public Library.  Once again persons will be able to access the library to obtain precious information that perhaps may not be easily available on the internet - information such as cultural and historical records for the enrichment of anyone wishing to visit the library”.           

Ms. Greenaway also reminded the public of the new library card that features a barcode in which the patron’s personal data is embedded, and an image of the Virgin Islands is used to further promote the Territory’s history and heritage.

The Public Library Services was established under the Public Library Services Ordinance in 1974 to be the legal depository for all government annual and departmental publications, and any other publication published in the Virgin Islands.

The mission of the Library Services Department of the British Virgin Islands is to provide globally competitive information through technology and various formats to meet the educational, historical, recreational and cultural needs of the public of the British Virgin Islands.