TMS Library Opening Ceremony

The Trinity Methodist School Library is now officially finished and ready for use by the teachers and students of the school!

On Thursday, the 18th, we held our formal opening ceremony. A couple teachers and students met early in the morning to decorate the library for our invited guests. Anthony came along as well and helped with final placement of our posters (some of which he was instrumental in designing!).

The ceremony took place in the church and involved a few speeches, items performed by students in each of the three divisions, and a very touching certificate presentation to Ginnie. Our goal was to inspire the children to enjoy reading and get excited about the books. The looks on their faces as they came into their new library showed their enthusiasm and eagerness to begin browsing the shelves and opening their minds to the wonderful world of books!

Immediately following the ceremony, the invited guests (which included our Reverend and Local Manager, Reverand Goff; the Methodist Schools' General Manager, Mrs. Bennett; our PC PTO Bryan; and Ginnie's counterpart from YES, Inda) joined some teachers and the student library monitors for a ribbon cutting. Ginnie and Mrs. Bennett were given the task of cutting the ribbon but Ginnie's scissors couldn't get through the material! Mrs. Bennett got a clean cut on her first try, but everyone insisted we get the other side cut, so with some persistence Ginnie made it happen!

The guests and library monitors then spent time browsing the shelves and sharing stories of their favorite books. We began to notice the students separating themselves with a selected book and getting right to reading, despite all the discussion surrounding them! It was fabulous :)

Ginnie's dear friend, Lindy, joined the gathering and sought out a Mickey Mouse book to read. As we flipped through the pages he took over the story, picture-reading a suspenseful tale involving Mickey and the Barracuda Triangle and an evil plot to destroy Mickey's planet. He's quite a story teller. After lunch, Ginnie brought each of the classes up to the library for their first official visit. Many children have been in and out to help and to take a peek, but for several this was the first time seeing their new library; the looks of excitement and wonder as they walked in made all the months of work well worth the effort. The Infant II class got so excited when I took their picture, they held up the books they had selected to browse. Teachers remarked on how quiet all the children were when they sat to look through the books; one even said she wasn't sure how this space could transform so greatly and wondered months ago if it would be finished and now she just wants to bring her class all the time. She's already asked for all of Ginnie's library activities!

Everyone at Trinity is extremely grateful to all of the family and friends who made this library possible through book donations, funding support, and conducting book collections. We can't express enough gratitude to show our appreciation!

Here are a few of Ginnie's favorite library quotes; she used them in her remarks for the ceremony.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ~Dr. Seuss

“I've traveled the world twice over,
Met the famous; saints and sinners,
Poets and artists, kings and queens,
Old stars and hopeful beginners,
I've been where no-one's been before,
Learned secrets from writers and cooks
All with one library ticket
To the wonderful world of books.”

~ Anonymous ~

"A library is a hospital for the mind." ~ Anonymous