The reference book collection at the University of Technology, Jamaica’s Calvin McKain Library has been significantly boosted with the acquisition of hundreds of titles donated by the family of the late Martin Henry, distinguished academic and administrator, public affairs commentator and prolific writer, who was manager of projects and operations at the university’s School of Graduate Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship at the time of his passing on May 28, 2019. He also served as project manager of the University’s Press and as editor-in-chief of the university’s flagship, peer-reviewed journal, The Journal of Arts, Science and Technology. In these positions, he played a key role in all initiatives at the university designed to enhance research and the development of scholarship.

The Martin Henry book collection was formally handed over at a ceremony hosted by the university on Monday, May 22, 2023, in the President’s Conference Room, UTech, Jamaica Papine campus. The generous donation of book titles covering a wide range of subject matters was spearheaded by Henry’s widow, Jacqueline Garvey-Henry, who shared that “after his untimely passing it became increasingly clear that books in boxes served no one and no purpose”, adding that “Martin has been associated with various institutions, but I felt that this was his academic home, and the library here would afford wider reference access to his collection, to which my family wholeheartedly agreed”.

Henry thanked Dr. Paul Ivey, associate vice president, School of Graduate Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship (SGSRE), with whom Martin Henry closely worked, for “enthusiastically receiving the suggestion of the donation” and for organising the fitting event to receive the collection. She also thanked the Calvin McKain Library for accepting the “valuable addition to the library” and Professor Colin Gyles, CD, acting president “for your obvious support and acceptance of the donation”.

Prof. Colin Gyles in welcoming the Martin Henry Book Collection remarked that, “this is one of the most fitting ways to commemorate the legacy of Martin Henry, because he has been known for many things, but one thing I know that no one will forget him for is the fact that he was an avid reader, he was a prolific writer, and someone who invested in knowledge,” adding that “our students will benefit, our researchers will benefit, and through them, the entire Jamaican community and further afield will benefit”.