Library service bridging the digital gap
Published:Wednesday | February 9, 2022 | 12:06 AMSharlene Hendricks/Gleaner Reporter
The Jamaica Library Service, like most government and corporate entities across the island, has taken on the challenge of adapting to meet the demands of a digital evolution launch point in human history, driven especially now by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following the exodus of students from the classroom in March 2020, the government agency, which operates under the Ministry of Education and Youth, embarked on significant reorganisation to facilitate the new virtual classroom, and to support communities where students could not access the Internet.
Speaking with The Gleaner on Monday, director general of the Jamaica Library Service, Maureen Thompson, asserted the entity had managed to remain relevant during the pandemic, all the while keeping the doors of national libraries open.
“We are dispersed, our network is very extensive across the length and breadth of Jamaica and we have ensured that we provide support to the education process, by ensuring that our libraries are open and students can come and access free Internet and other devices.
“So, we have not closed our doors, and although we have limited the hours, we have remained open since the pandemic in order to support our students especially,” said Thompson, who gave opening remarks at the Jamaica Library Service Career Forum held at the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Library on Monday.
The forum saw face-to-face and online engagement with students and their teachers from schools all across the country, reaching approximately 100 students via Zoom, and close to 50 students who attended the forum from selected schools in the Corporate Area.
During the pandemic, the entity’s network of 111 libraries, inclusive of 13 parish libraries islandwide, was also employed to systematically supply academic material to students, especially in rural areas where students had limited or no access to the Internet.
Partnering with close to 20 schools across the country, the library service locations have also operated as drop-off and pick-up points for assignments.
A SAFE SPACE
Libraries have also continued to facilitate students face to face. Efforts have been made to keep libraries open, especially in rural Jamaica, where the build-out of free Wi-Fi infrastructure is ongoing. They also provide safe spaces for kids.
“Students can access our computers, tablets and laptops to continue their education, all within a clean and safe environment and in accordance with the mask-wearing and sanitising, and social-distancing guidelines,” said Thompson.
“We collaborated with several schools in specific areas with challenges with poor access to Internet, for teachers to deposit assignments so that students can come to the library to pick up those assignments. The students then take it back to the library after completing their schoolwork for the teachers to collect them.”
Several of the national library services have moved to online platforms. These include the ‘Ask A Librarian’ initiative that allows students to interact with librarians via an online portal on the Jamaica Library Service website.
“We have a number of our librarians who provide homework assistance so that students can be guided virtually as they do their homework, whether by providing required information that they need to do their work or just by providing guidance,” Thompson said.
“So, there is no doubt that our libraries are relevant today as they were before the pandemic. We have ensured that during the pandemic our libraries have pivoted much faster than we had intended, by transitioning a number of our programmes to the virtual space.”