National Library kick-starts celebrations for 110th anniversary

In observance of its 110th anniversary, the National Library has prepared a calendar of events under the theme “Preserve the past, embrace the future”, which will aim to educate and promote the importance of knowing and preserving one’s history.

The anniversary celebrations were kick-started on Sunday, with a 5K fitness run and walk in collaboration with the Guyana Athletics Association. This event was followed by a photography exhibition showcasing some of the agency’s past achievements, librarians and Guyanese authors at the library’s Church and Main Streets, Georgetown location on Monday.
At Monday’s exhibition, Chief Librarian Emily King during a brief interview with this publication explained that since the library is one of the country’s most valued repository, it is tasked with the responsibility of helping to preserve materials that possess historic value, and according to her, this is the aim behind the exhibition.
“This year we are celebrating 110 years and that’s no mean feed for any organisation…our theme for this one tenth anniversary is ‘preserve the past, embrace the future’ and right away persons would want to think why preserve the past, we are one of our nation’s valuable repositories, and because of this we are charged with preserving these materials for future generations, so that they can have access and know there future,” King stated.
With regards to the period for which the events will be held, King highlighted that celebrations will conclude on November 14, 2019 with the finals of a reading competition.
“Up to the end of November we will be conducting a number of events so we can sensitise members of the public that libraries are still vital and we’re here to stay…we will conclude on the 14th of November and the event, which rounds up all of our celebrations, will be the finals of our champion readers competitions”.
Some of the events will include a health fair, which will be held on Thursday, followed by the launch of a Champion Readers Competition, which is expected to have a total of 110 schools from across the country participating. This will be followed by an award ceremony at the library’s main branch, among other events.