Minister for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports, Honourable Sharie DeCastro has expressed appreciation for a sizeable donation made to the Virgin Gorda Community Library.

The donation of items including desktops and laptop computers, chairs, tables, and square and round cushions was made by the Guana Fund, Unite BVI Foundation and Bitter End Yacht Club.

Honourable DeCastro said that she was looking forward to the positive impact the items will make on the community. “As an advocate and fan of literacy, and because of my expertise, I truly appreciate the need for such space, the engagement it brings and how it builds, not just in the educational journey but the character, and the social skills of our children,” the Minister said.

The gifts were handed over by Chair of the Guana Fund Ms. Noni Georges and Mrs. Kim Takeuchi from Unite BVI Foundation who both pledged their organisations continued support to the development of library services in the Territory.

Chief Librarian Ms. Suzanne Greenaway said the donations are of great assistance to the library staff, and will improve the service offered to the public, and lead to increased patronage of the library’s services.

Ms. Greenaway said, “The computer equipment donation is significant as there was a demand for more computer services at the library. The provision of the equipment will allow more customers to satisfy their information needs, carry out word processing tasks, check emails and access online information. It will also help to improve literacy as customers can access the library’s databases and ebooks.”

The Chief Librarian thanked the benefactors; Guana Fund, Unite BVI Foundation and Bitter End Yacht Club for their generosity and constant support to the  Virgin Gorda Community Library, the Public Library and the wider community over the years.

The donation received from Guana Fund included:

• 11 Chairs
• 5 Tables
• Square and round cushions
• Carpet squares
• CPU holder
• Epson Wireless Projector
• Projector screen
• A tack board or display board
• A mini trolley
• An OPAC desk

The donation from Unite BVI Foundation and Bitter End Yacht Club included:

• 2 Acer desktop computers
• 2 Asus Zenbook laptop computers
• 2 Samsung tablets

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 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 Virgin Islands.