JAMAICA LIBRARY SERVICE 1998

JAMAICA LIBRARY SERVICE

THE GLEANER Honour Award for 1998 was awarded to the Jamaica Library Service (JLS) "for providing education, information and recreation aimed at improving the lives of Jamaicans".

It had then been doing so for 50 years. At the end of 1997/98 the JLS served 602 communities across the island, providing books free of cost to the public, and "contributing to the educational process of the country at every level, often from inadequate accommodation and resources".

Nowadays the JLS takes its services into communities by way of bookmobiles and lecture programmes, film shows, band concerts, debating encounters and art competitions. Children's programmes such as the Story Hour, Hobby Groups, Reading Competitions and Summer Fun programmes provides both education and recreation. Also of importance is the National Reading Competition that helps children have an appreciation of books and reading.

All Parish libraries have now acquired fax services, computers and e-mail. Internet services have also recently been introduced.

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES DISTANCE TEACHING EXPERIMENT (UWIDITE)-1984

THE TEAM was represented by professor Gerald Lalor, then pro vice chancellor of UWI, UWIDITE which was formally launched on the Mona campus in February 1984. UWIDITE was said to be "likely to have a most dramatic impact on the quality and improvement of life, not only in Jamaica, but the entire Caribbean, enhancing the education of people in the region".

Currently the UWI Distance Education Centre(UWIDEC), students from parishes outside Kingston in Jamaica and from other Caribbean islands can now complete full degrees at home through the use of modern communications technology.

The Centre uses a 'faculty-driven' model of distance education, which means that the university delivers teaching in keeping with its existing faculty requirements.

Sites have been set up at UWI's non campus territories with workstation computer labs with Internet connectivity, electronic mail, file transfer and electronic library services that will allow students to tap into information around the world.

The programme provides the opportunity for the university to target the adults ­ mothers, fathers, managers, secretaries, business people ­ who for professional and personal reasons ordinarily would be kept out of the classroom.

METROPOLITAN PARKS AND MARKETS (MPM) 1985

MPM GOT the Gleaner Honour award in 1985 for their "magnificent and successful cleaning of the city of Kingston". This was said to have improved the environment of the capital city and "enhance the quality of life for residents of the Corporate Area while having a beneficial effect on the rest of the country".

Today, despite setbacks, new units have been added to the MPM's fleet and garbage collection around the Corporate area, though hit with a few glitches, runs smoothly for the most part.

In September last year, MPM Chairman Alston Stewart promised residents in Red Hills, Rock Hall and Forest Hills communities in St. Andrew, as well as Rennock Lodge in east Kingston, which had been suffering from a pile-up of garbage because of infrequent collection, that they would see an improvement in service by the end of the year.

They did. The agency currently collects around 60 per cent of the island's solid waste from communities along routes stretching from St. Thomas to Clarendon. Even with budget setbacks by unplanned cleanups following fires in the Riverton City Dump and having to remove debris used to block roads, and with continued holdups at the dump, the MPM still continues to provide quality service to Jamaicans.