$250k set aside for library design
Education Minister Sharie deCastro has announced a $250,000 allocation in the 2026 budget to fund the design of a national library for the BVI, signalling the start of a long-term initiative to modernise public library services across the territory.
Speaking during the budget debate in the House of Assembly, deCastro said the funding would support the development of a purpose-built national library that reflects contemporary needs and supports learning beyond traditional book lending. She told legislators that access to knowledge remains central to national development and that public libraries, while functioning, require further investment to meet modern demands.
The announcement comes against the backdrop of the main public library in Road Town being closed for nearly a decade. The original Road Town library on Flemming Street was closed in early 2016 due to severe mould issues, and residents have been without a central library since then, with plans for a replacement repeatedly delayed over the years.
The minister said the proposed facility must be designed with a broader vision in mind, noting that it should serve multiple functions for different segments of the population. She explained that the intention is for the national library to support digital learning, community engagement, lifelong education and cultural preservation, while also providing access for students, educators, entrepreneurs and the wider public.
“I don’t believe that this will just be another building,” deCastro stated. She added that the design phase is expected to lay the foundation for a space that reflects modern times and supports learning and communication across the territory.
Sustained public investment in education
The library allocation was announced as part of a wider education budget that the minister said demonstrates sustained public investment in education, youth development and social infrastructure. During her presentation, deCastro outlined increased funding across several areas, including school rehabilitation, classroom resources and professional development, while stressing that government remains the largest investor in education in the Virgin Islands.
She told the House that public library services have continued to operate despite limitations. Still, she emphasised that improved facilities are necessary to support literacy and learning outcomes over the long term. The design funding, she said, represents an important first step toward delivering a modern national library that aligns with broader education and development goals.
The minister linked the proposed library project to broader efforts to strengthen education and access to knowledge, arguing that investment in learning spaces plays a crucial role in national growth. She said the government’s approach focuses on phased development, beginning with planning and design, before moving toward construction once the appropriate groundwork has been completed.
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Well mehson somebody is punishing the BVI future generation,they don’t want no library, if they charging quarter million USD for just a picture design? imagine the construction.
Am sure some engineer in the public works department can do that drawing. That is going to be the next deep well to drop monies in for years to come, just from the precedence set.
Who tell you Public Works have a qualified engineer or Architect on staff? Please check and let me know.
So let me get this straight, PWD has architects and engineers in the department designing retaining walls, roads, buildings, along with another department working alongside town and country to inspect and approve steel works for homes but no one qualified to design a library?
Great idea, but a $ 250k budget for design? Typically, design costs run 10 -15% of build cost, so we’d be looking at a $ 2 million build, plus commissioning, in the real world. We all know here that nothing is ever done under budget and on time. There is also the minor matter that books feature less in people’s lives, so perhaps consider the project as building an educational center rather than a library.
Unless the multipurpose vision that the Minister has in mind preserves the core function and ambience of a library, the end result will be an all-singing, all-dancing compromise.
Digital learning, community engagement, lifelong education and cultural preservation are functions that can be best served elsewhere.
$250,000 your joking pull an existing design from a book , internet, A1 a square building above flood level with shelves library
Sign post .
$250.000 for a design, really Sharie?!?! and yet Minimum wage can’t rise enough to match the price of living, the Althea Scatliffe Primary School can’t get rebuild up till now, teachers still have to beg parents for essentials to support their children in classroom. you guys are sickening #toxic government
We need a library. No frills no thrills. A quiet place. Finally but the entertainment spending was priority.
The fools will spend millions to build a library and then ask for donations to buy a book.
When all we need is a room and some shelves and someone to put the books we have on them.