Our new National Library |21 July 2023
The newly renovated National Library building
Now that the magnificent renovated library building has been handed over there is ebullient anticipation to start borrowing books. As we look forward for this long-awaited moment, Tony Mathiot on behalf of The Seychelles National Institute for Culture, Heritage and the Arts turns back the pages of history to tell us about the origin of the National Library.
A few weeks ago, on June 29, 2023, the Green Island Construction Company (GICC) handed the key of the renovated National Library building to the President of the Republic of Seychelles, Wavel Ramkalawan. The ceremony, which was planned especially to mark the 47th Anniversary of our Independence in 1976, was attended by a large enthusiastic crowd among whom no doubt more than a few must be bibliophiles. Many expressed their impressions on the magnificent work done on the 30-year-old building. The National Library had been closed in 2018 due to fungus infection which had originated in the National Archives which then occupied the east part of the ground floor building. Renovation work had taken 18 months, starting in February 2022.
Together with all the additional refurbishments, the total cost of the new National Library was R89.4 million. Thirty years ago, the construction of the National Library was slightly over R25 million. And eighty-four years before, in 1910, our first public library, the Carnegie Library had cost R18,000. It must be known that the present National Library is the successor of a Scottish philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie’s donation to the Colony of Seychelles. He gave the sum of £1,750 (then R26,250) for the creation of a public library in Seychelles. When he died in 1919 at the age of 84 years old, Carnegie had funded some 3,000 libraries across Europe and South Africa. Not surprisingly then, that the name Carnegie is synonymous with libraries worldwide. The Carnegie Library lasted until a couple of years after independence when it was renamed the National Library. In 1978, it moved into the old government secretariat (the actual mayor’s office building) where it stayed until 1994 when all the collections of books were transferred to the new imposing edifice, constructed by the Vijay Construction Company. It was the Minister for Education and Culture, Jacques Hodoul (1943-2021) who opened the library in its new premises on Friday December 15, 1978. The idea for a new and larger public library originated in the late 1980s when Act 4 of 1988 established the National Library Trust Fund, the object of which ‘shall be the construction of a building for a National Library’.
This project also featured in the National Plan of 1985-1989. The Board of Trustees consisted of: Guy Morel (chairman), Zotique Pragassen (vice-chairman and relations), Brother David Denniscourt (treasurer and planning), Josianne Loze (secretary), Danielle de St Jorre (member c foreign donors), Flavie Jackson (member - fundraising), Livio Lang (member - construction), Antoine Jury (member - architecture), Edwin Palmer (member - business community liaison) and Lina Ernesta (member - library services). From July 16, 1988, a nationwide collection campaign was launched by Flavie Jackson (1933-2008) who was then chief librarian. Collection boxes were placed in all schools in the republic and at all establishments and institutions. Almost every week, Mrs Jackson and Mr Morel (1932-2006) would go on RTS (Radio Television Seychelles) to give an updated account of funds collected. It was encouraging the way everyone gave so generously, so unstintingly towards the noblest of patriotic causes: A Library.
Interestingly enough, the construction of the National Library took place at a time when the country was going through an eventful and turbulent process. With the return of multi-party democracy in 1991, followed by a referendum for a new constitution, a drastic change in the National Assembly created a concern that could not then have been anticipated. Francis E. Macgregor, speaker of the National Assembly, 1993-2007, writes in his book: A Parliamentary History of Seychelles, that ‘The size of the Legislature increased from twenty-five in 1991 to thirty-three in the new National Assembly causing the former venue of the Legislature at National House to be too small to comfortably accommodate this size, hence arrangements were made to house the new legislative as part of the National Library building which had to be modified to accommodate a parliamentary complex’. Indeed, the National Assembly held its first sitting in the new National Library building in October of 1993, many months before it was officially inaugurated to mark the 2nd Anniversary of our new Constitution, on June 18, 1994 by president France Albert Rene (1935-2019). It was the Ministry of Education, Information and Youth which took over the management of the National Library. In the early 2000s Lina Ernesta succeeded Mrs Jackson as chief librarian of the new National Library. The East wing of the building accommodated the National Archives Section which moved there from La Bastille in the late 1990s. This was included in the design of the building which was done by Hughes and Polkinghorne. In 2004, the National History Museum moved there from the old Government Secretariat. That year, the library was honoured with a new logo designed by Lenn Barbe and a new slogan ‘providing knowledge for a lifetime’ created by the library staff became the motto of the National Library. A motto that encapsulates the perennial value of books.
There are at least a few readers whose interest in reading was ignited by Enid Blyton during the days of the Carnegie Library and who will soon indulge their literary passion with the likes of Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Stephen King , Colleen Hoover and Stephanie Meyer when the Library for borrowing books opens soon. Back in the early 1990s The Sweet Valley High series (181 books in all) was a craze with secondary school female students. Those former fans of identical twins, Jessica and Elizabeth Wakely, would now be young mothers in their early 30s and avid readers of Danielle Steele. It is accepted that the awesome technological innovation that has revolutionised our lives during the past decade has reduced the popularity of books. A great section of the reading public prefers to read from their tablets or smartphones - it’s as if they wouldn’t be seen dead with a book in their hands! The new National Library will continue to provide an E - book lending service that it had already initiated back in 2021. Once you are a registered member you will be allowed to download any 3 books that you have selected and retain them for a period of 3 weeks. In other words, you will be able to ‘borrow’ books without ever having to visit the library at Esplanade – something that you could have read in a science-fiction book borrowed from the Carnegie Library way back in the 1950s! However, it’s a relief to see that the new logo designed by Urny Mathiot is a depiction of an open book with radiating pages that still promotes the traditional book. Indeed, Urny’s logo would have been supremely appropriate on the wall of the Carnegie Library when it opened on January 22, 1910. The National Library Institution is manned (incorrect word, isn’t it?!) by a staff of 37 female workers, including the Praslin branch and the La Digue branch. It’s true, rather annoyingly true that for a while, five years at least, before the National Library closed into 2017 because of fungus infestation, the institution had gained the misnomer ‘National Cultural Centre’. Even a large inscribed rectangular slab at the front announced that to the passing public. The simple explanation for this was that, as from 2012, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture was based in the building which also served as the venue for Art exhibitions and cultural talks. In fact, the library then occupied 45% of the building. But now, it’s a different story, the building will serve almost entirely as the Nation’s Library. So, look forward to going back to the library, the new National Library.
