Colossal stupidity!I recall that some 60 years ago, in a letter to the editor, I made a plea for the colonial authorities to build a library in Chaguanas. In those days the reading requirements of the people were met by a library van that visited once a fortnight. People such as myself, who did not qualify for secondary education, pursued our education mainly through the resources of that library van that remained for about three hours during each fortnightly visit.
At long last, a substantial library was designed and the major elements have already been constructed. But wait, the privileged moneyed classes of Chaguanas have now set their searching eyes on this work in progress and have decided that this building should be adapted to accommodate a court house, without a thought for the many citizens whose dreams for a purpose-built library will be dashed on the rocks of appeasement and political expediency.The rights of the privileged are now being made superior to the needs of students, researchers and readers of the Borough who were never consulted on this action. But the underclass of Chaguanas has for generations been trodden underfoot by the wealthy and the politically connected. We recall that the present site of the Chaguanas market was selected to please the business community and must now be relocated because it is untenable.
The ignorance of those pressuring for the conversion of the library to a courthouse was clearly revealed when a member of the Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce said recently that the library could be moved to one of the buildings vacated by the Hindu Credit Union. He should note that libraries are now purpose-designed and no longer comprise shelves with books. They are spatially designed to facilitate optimal flow of processes, and distribution of information.Libraries now perform informational, cultural and aesthetic functions, as well as provide resources to support educational and research activities. I am certain that the library was designed to accommodate Web-conferencing, debates, intellectual discourse and art displays. It embodied infrastructure to serve the needs of the information age, and simply shifting functions to accommodate the court or moving to another empty building will be a colossal waste of money and a demonstration of colossal stupidity.
I appeal to the Mayor of Chaguanas not to preside over this act of rank folly and to think of the message that this move conveys to the residents, that the courts must be accorded higher priority than servicing the needs of those who seek truth and intellectual stimulation.Why not build a proper courthouse on that triangle opposite the police station where the old police station and the vehicle licensing office once occupied. Leave our library alone.
David Subran PhD,
Clair and Montrose Streets,
Chaguanas