Hattieville Community Library is Officially Launched

Today, the Ministry of Education, Culture, E-Governance, Science and Technology officially inaugurated the Hattieville Community Library. It will be a safe space primarily for youths in the village to access information, as well as internet and computers to do their school work and engage in learning.

Duane Moody, Reporting

Hundreds of students live in Hattieville and for years have been without access to library services or a safe space to do necessary research to complete assignments and more. Today, community members gathered on Sylvester Boulevard for the inauguration of the Hattieville Community Library.

Leroy Green

Leroy Green, Board Chairman, Belize National Library Service & Information System

“The library has evolve into more than just books. If you notice, not even the name is only the Belize National Library Service any long. It is now the Belize National Library Service and Information System. This means that the library has evolved into the age of technology and therefore the services offered by the library have expanded. So now, our children, our young adults and even some of our adults don’t go to the library just to read books, they also go there to experience new worlds by the touch of a finger on a button.”

There are currently forty-seven community libraries across the country. And while they may be small in structure, what lies within is great. It is about sharing information that can help an individual with continued education, however, Minister of Education Francis Fonseca wants the libraries to contain works of Belizean authors and artists.

Francis Fonseca

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education

“It’s a modest building, it is a modest start but it is an important contribution to the community because libraries are all about information, sharing information. All about education, making sure that our young people and any citizen really of this community can have access to a safe environment to a safe place where they can sit down and do research and do their homework and get information that will help them with their education. I love when I go into a library and I see Belizean art. I want to see Belizean art in our libraries. The libraries should be community spaces where we display the work of our Belizean people, the art of our Belizean people. So I want to see the book of Belizean authors; I want to see those upfront. We need to promote our people, our art, our artistic community; put up our Belizean art on the walls, bring our culture into the library.”

Area representative Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, in whose constituency the library was installed, says dreams do come true.

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, Area Rep, Belize Rural Central

“The absolutely commitment of our government, especially our Minister of Education, to spearhead the bridging of what we call the digital divide. In other words we must make sure that our children throughout the country have access to internet so that they can work with their devices. It’s a joint effort and I am so glad that we were able to make the beginning of this dream come true and for it to continue so that the kids can really get ahead in our Hattieville community.

Duane Moody for News Five.