Cassie Lawrence, student of the Wesley High School is the new champion of the Courts Debate Competition. The Competition hosted by the Dominica Library and Information Service, occurred on Monday, July 6, at the Archives Unit of the National Documentation Centre.

Four students from the CastleBruce Secondary and Wesley High School debated the topic: The restoration of the old Roseau library building is the best option for continuing operations of the Roseau Public Library.

Ms. Renita Charles, Librarian at the Roseau Public Library said, “The old Roseau library building has so much historical value and the important role it plays in our community cannot be underscored. However, in September 2017, Hurricane Maria ravaged the Roseau building, leaving it in a state of disrepair. We wanted to engage our community in the discussion on the establishment of a permanent structure to house the National Library, hence the topic for this
year’s debate.”
Cassie eloquently defended her opposition to the topic to secure her title, emphasizing the need for a more advanced, spacious home for the library to meet the growing needs of the Dominican population. Other participants of the competition included Anessa Laurent, Merlanie Graham and Michelle Davis.

Courts Commercial Assistant, Ms. Shernelle Anthony said, “Courts has always been a key driver behind the intellectual development of our Dominican Youth. We rushed to collaborate with the library for this debate competition as it sought to not only develop critical thinking skills among our participants, but brought light to the important role of libraries in our community.”
The winner of the debate competition received a Lenovo laptop, second place receive a tablet and remaining participants each received Bluetooth speakers from Courts.

The Courts Debate Competition is a continuation of activities by the Dominica Library and Information Service to celebrate Library Week 2021.

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