Students act uncivilly at library

Tue, Jul 17. 2012

Editor: The National Public Library of St Vincent, sponsored by the Taiwanese government and ceremoniously opened on December 7th, 2011, was built to serve several purposes.{{more}}

Some of those purposes addressed by Ambassador Weber Shih were that the people of St Vincent fully utilize the facilities of the library and that it becomes the most important centre for learning in the country.

However, these purposes still go unnoticed by the nation’s youth.

One cannot go to the library and study or read in silence and at peace because of the level of noise and incivility demonstrated by primary, secondary and tertiary students present in the library.

Most recently, I have witnessed that the actions taken by security members of the library to deal with these situations are very poor. It appears to me that the majority of them have an enormous phobia to confronting these obstreperous students.

These students also use the elevator as their main site for obscenity. The elevator was placed in the library specifically for disabled persons. It is currently, falsely (I believe), out of service because of them.

Presently, I think that the main factor influencing the misuse of the library’s facilities is the poor level of security to maintain the library.

The library needs security officers who can stand firm and enforce proper penalties when rules are broken. It is also the responsibility of every student and parent to treasure the facilities of the library and encourage others to do the same. You need to realize the quantity of energy, effort, time and money which were placed into this unique project to provide a proper learning centre for you.

Vincentians, if there is no silence achieved in the library, then why claim it as a library? Think!! How can you work efficiently in a place full of noise?

When I go to the library, it seems like “I am running from the coffin and butting up on the jumbie,” because sometimes I leave blatant places and seek silence in the library, but to no avail.

The library ought to be silent as much as possible, because silence is a major property of a library. Let us work together to make the library and the country overall a better place.

AJ