Library Week 2006 opens at VITE


Library Week 2006 at VITE opened Monday 18th September with a march by students and staff, and a fanfare display of class mascots.

Three sections of the Institute displayed some very interesting mascots, which included the Turtle, the Ant Colony, and the Spider. As they marched, the turtles shouted, 'Protect the turtle, do not steal the eggs - Protect the library, do not steal books!'.

The 200m march started outside the institute entrance and ended at the library entrance. Each class then took turns to explain why they chose a particular animal to represent their class and how it related to the library and the theme 'Scholars Connect @ the Library'. Some groups used the body parts of the animals to give their message. Some did short skits, some read poems, and one group sang a song, to give their message.

Inside the library, the Director of the Vanuatu cultural Centre, Mr Ralf Regenvanu, gave a very interesting and challenging speech before declaring  the Library Week opened. His speech challenged all teachers to be role models in reading. He said children who see their teachers read, will also want to read. He also pointed out that there are not many books about Vanuatu, because of the fact that our history has been very much oral. He encouraged teachers to help their children write about themselves, their families, their village, custom stories they've heard, and so on, and then to collect these for the library. One of the interesting thing Mr Regenvanu said was that, Vanuatu is first in the world in terms of linguistic diversity. He encouraged all to be proud of that fact, and to protect our languages by using them for reading and writing. 

Chair-lady of the Library Week committee, Mrs Rachel Kara, also gave a short introduction. She reminded the audience, mostly student teachers, of something she said last year, that "Your lecturers only give you the skeleton of your assignments, but you will have to search for the 'meat' yourselves. The success of you assignments come through reading books from the library'".

Also during the opening in the library, an year 4 girl, dressed as Cinderella, gave a beautiful poem about the importance of the library.

Students and staff will be looking forward to the rest of the activities lined up for the week, which include reading aloud, quizzes, treasure hunt, the cooking fest, as well as lunch- time speeches from invited quests and evening video shows. 

... by Jack Daniels Matariki