Roblot Library to Be Relocated

   

The authorities that be, have decided to relocate the Roblot Library to a section at the Roblot Combined School soon. According to the librarian, Mrs Trudy Henry, they are taking precautionary measures to secure the equipment and books because of the condition of the section as well as the upcoming hurricane season.  But one may ask, why wasn’t the decision taken since last year?  Is there some other underlying reason? The library is presently being housed in a section of the Roblot Community Centre which was damaged during the passage of hurricane Tomas in 2010.

      The library is not safe. The community Centre is roofless and the partition which separates the section which the library is housed from the roofless and dilapidated centre is already rotting away. The library’s roof which was partly blown away was fixed but during heavy rains one can see numerous leaking spots in the roof.  Actually if you are using any computer during a shower the librarian has to warn you where to sit for fear of a leak right over your machine. Persons using the library are continuously distracted by the noise of children and teenagers running up and down in the roofless centre.     The electrical source which feeds the library is exposed to the elements of the weather. The meter is still on the roofless Centre so is the main switch. What madness!                The cheers by the sports enthusiasts for the sportsmen during activities on the multi-purpose court, is also another distraction for the library user.But what are the disadvantages of the library transfer (hope it is temporary) on the community. The residents of the communities of La Maze, Roblot and Debreuil are very territorial. They cherish what is theirs and though not outwardly showing it are not too pleased when “outsiders” use their facilities. On more than one occasion the Community Development officer have tried to have one Committee to see after the affairs of the three communities mentioned above and on every occasion this committee broke down. The library was mostly being used by the school children with a few adults coming in now, mostly to access the internet.  There is almost a sense of certainty that Roblot Children may not go back down to Debreuil to access the net after school. La Maze children most times would stop at Roblot on their way up to use the library services and would after completion take a cool walk to La maze. Do you see them stopping off at Debreuil? For sure persons at Debreuil will use the facilities to their fullest.

      However the move to relocate the library is a good one, if the intention is genuine, although some persons oppose it for reasons of territory. Like one irate resident puts it, “They took our school from us and now they take away our library and we have no Centre. Roblot finish.”  A Roblot secondary school student remarked, “Instead of moving the library to Debreuil, why could they not renovate it?” This blog thinks that the environment will be better and a larger section of the school children will have access to the World Wide Web. One may very well see students now coming to school with their lap tops. Lunchtime and break will surely be hectic for the librarian.

How long this transfer will last, no one knows. Until a Multi-purpose Centre is constructed in Roblot one may very well see the library remaining in Debreuil for a long time. Roblotians better get used to it.

     A recurrent feature: Roblot Combined School to Debreuil   1982 – 1983 and now Roblot Library to Debreil 2012. Don’t be surprised if the reconstruction of the Roblot Community Centre takes place in Debreuil.