FREEPORT, Grand Bahama -- Patrons of the Sir Charles Hayward Children's Library now have a greater selection of books to choose from thanks to a generous donation made by The Grand Bahama Port Authority, Limited (GBPA) and Group of Companies.

Offering remarks was Mrs. Ginger Moxey, Vice President of GBPA, who drew on the library's theme of 'creating leaders by developing readers'. "Our vision is to better the lives of the Grand Bahama community and this library is a fundamental feature that adds value to our community. Thousands of children and adults benefit from this library each year. As such it is important to this new administration, that it is properly outfitted to be as functional and user friendly as possible. These books will augment the library's existing volumes and aid in the development of readers, and by extension, help to create our nation's future leaders," said Mrs. Moxey.

Numerous students from various schools throughout the island were on hand to witness the presentation and enjoyed special appearances by the Grand Bahama Youth Choir, the Lucaya Youth Theatre Society (LYTS) and popular children's characters Big Bird and Dora who joined the kids in a special story time.

Almost 800 books were presented, bringing the current literary stock to about 15,000 volumes. The selection of new books range from fiction to non-fiction, easy reading, adventure, Bahamian, West Indian and numerous others. The library now hosts reference books for BJC and BGCSE coursework and a fully equipped computer lab. A regular weekly story time will soon be introduced as well as regular exhibitions.

Ms. Josephine Zonicle, Chief Librarian, enthusiastically thanked GBPA?s Group of Companies for their generous donation. "This is a red letter day for the Children's Library. The facility has been painted, renovated and redesigned. Our turnaround is in keeping with GBPA's new Downtown Turnaround initiative. On behalf of all of us, children, parents and the community at large, we say thank you for our new look and new books," said Ms. Zonicle.

Photo: Mrs. Ginger Moxey, Vice President ? GBPA (far left) shares in story time, at the recently renovated Sir Charles Hayward Children?s Library, along with a group of eager youngsters.