Maskall finally gets a library

Edmond Castro

A new library was inaugurated in Maskall Village earlier today.  For decades, the rural community has been without a public facility which caters to the academic and literary needs of its residents.  A collaborative effort between Area Representative Edmund Castro, the Ministry of Education and the National Library Service has resulted in the construction of a reference library and a computer lab complete with internet service.

Edmond Castro, Area Representative, Belize Rural North

“This is the first time in the history of the old road that we now have a building that we can call a library that is connected to the national library service of this country. So Maskall now joins the other twenty-eight communities in the country with a library. So we will have our own library here. We will have a part time going full time worker here at the library. We also have the internet for the children and students attending high schools, universities and sixth forms. So this is very big for us here in this area.”

Patrick Faber

Patrick Faber, Minister of Education

“We want to encourage the use of books still. In fact if you look inside, you will also see that we have a state of the art computer lab in there with the internet. We do both, the national library service is also the information service of the ministry of education, the government. So it encourages the use of technology right alongside the hard copy of the books. So I don’t think it is antiquated at all. It is something that we encourage in the ministry of education.”