Basseterre, St. Kitts (CFBC): The Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC) is pleased to announce the publication of a new digital exhibit – Celebrating 40 Years of Authors – displaying the works of local authors over the past 40 years since the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis became an independent state. The exhibit was launched on Tuesday, April 23, World Book and Copyright Day, at the 4ft annual CFBC Author’s Forum “and Celebration of Books’l.
The project was conceptualized and spearheaded by Mrs. Sonita Daniel, Director of Library Services at the CFBC in commemoration of the 40’h anniversary of independence of the Federation which was celebrated in September 2023. Mrs. Daniel has had over 40 years of experience in education and librarianship and has hosted annual physical exhibitions in the CFBC Library for several years on various topics including significant events in the history of Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College.
Taking a community-driven approach, Mrs. Daniel reached out to authors locally and in the diaspora to provide content for the exhibit. The authors provided photographs, a biography, and book descriptions ‘for the exhibit. CFBC staff edited the content and created the exhibit on the GitHub platform. Special commendation is extended to CFBC staff members Cassandra Nesbitt, Vemicia Wyatt, Jose Dasent, and Isabel Byron. Work on the exhibit will continue and any Kittitian or Nevisian author whose work may not already be represented is invited to contact Director Daniel (sonita.daniel@cfbc.edu.kn) to arrange for inclusion of their work. The exhibit can be viewed directly at https://bit.1vlSKN40Authors and will be linked from the CFBC website in due course.
The digital exhibit makes visible the richness, breadth, and depth of local writing. Visitors to the digital
exhibit can use the filter buttons to sort books by 14 categories including history, children’s books, romance, memoir, educational, biography and so on.
Mr. Lesroy Williams, Communications Specialist at the CFBC, who hosted the Author’s Forum held on April 23, noted that while books from outside our region are important we have the talent to produce our books and tell stories through our own experiences, our own eyes, and our history, and not simply allow someone from outside to tell our story.
In this endeavour, the CFBC Library was delighted to collaborate with the Indiana University Bloomington Libraries. Mrs. Willa Liburd Tavernier, a native of St. Kitts and Nevis, who works as a Research Impact & Open Scholarship Librarian and her team members, provided training and support to the CFBC Library staff members. Mrs. Liburd Tavernier uses digital humanities methods in her work, particularly public open digital scholarship and digital archiving. The two libraries intend to continue to work together on other digital projects.