Exhibition marks Gozo Library's 150th anniversary

A commemorative exhibition is open till December 31 at the Gozo Public Library in Triq Vajringa, Victoria, on the 150th anniversary of its opening to the public on November 16, 1853.

This service owes its inception to a group of public-spirited intellectuals who in 1839 set up the Gabinetto di Lettura, which held its first management meeting on March 7, 1839 when this private institution was renamed Libreria di Società. New books were acquired for the first 38 members, each of whom paid 1s. 8d. (8c2) a month.

Later in 1852 the Council of Government in Valletta stipulated that spare duplicate editions of books at the Malta Public Library be sent to Gozo to establish a public library.

The committee of management was chaired by Rev. Dr Michele Francesco Buttigieg, archpriest of Rabat, who later became Gozo's first bishop. His rules and regulations were submitted to the erudite Governor, Sir William Reid, who approved them and himself donated various books.

The first librarian was Canon Michelangelo Garroni, who held the post for 31 years. He was followed as librarian by Mgr Giuseppe Farrugia, who was also there for 31 years. He transferred the library from 46 Library Street to its present premises on March 9, 1896, having himself designed the building which today encompasses the government primary schools in the ground floor.

Subsequent librarians were Canon Joseph Psaila Cumbo (1915-1921), Legal Procurator Luigi Ciantar (1921-31), Mgr Giuseppe Farrugia (1931-1948), Edgar M. Grech (1948-1952) and Paul M. Cassar (1952-94), who supervised the extension of the library both in the premises and in books and introduced an inter-library loan service.

In 1983 the lending library section was transferred to St Francis Street and the main library became the National Archives (Gozo) as a research and reference library.

The present officer-in-charge, George V. Borg, who has occupied the post since February 1994, has seen further expansion, not least the audio-visual section, an Internet service and story-telling sessions.

At the opening of the exhibition last month, Mr Borg said that by the end of the year well over 7,000 persons will have availed themselves of the Internet service in the past 12 months. Nearly 100,000 photocopies will have been printed, some 1,000 persons will have borrowed books for reading at home and over 100,000 books issued on loan. The library is a centre of study for students and scholars from Gozo as well as Malta where the officer-in-charge and the staff go out of their way to be of service.

Mgr Dr Joseph Bezzina, the Archives and Research officer, outlined to the invited audience of teachers, students and academics the 150-year history of the library against a setting of the various stages of its expansion, recording that in its early years the population of Gozo stood at 14,342, of whom 38 could speak English and 33 were able to read this language, 457 could speak Italian and 124 read it, while only 26 could speak both Italian and English, 18 of whom were British residents.

The Collegio di Gozo, a public school, had one master who taught 46 boys Italian, Latin and English, besides arithmetic and writing five days a week, six hours a day, at a salary of £50 a year. The school population stood at 267 in 1851 and 376 in 1861.

Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono, who was to preside at the ceremony and unveil a commemorative tablet, was represented by her personal assistant, Anthony Borg, as she had to attend an urgent Cabinet meeting.

Various presentations were made before the opening of the exhibition: Gozo - The Administration of an Island Region (Joyce Farrugia); Gozo in the World and the World in Gozo (Raymond C. Xerri), Delegation of Duties in Gozo Primary Schools (Mario DeBono), The Poor of Yahweh/Anawim in the New Testament (Giovanna Tabone), George Borg (1906-1983) - A critical approach and a gazetteer of his surviving works (Charlene Calleja); Translation of the Bolla tat-twaqqif tal-Kollegjata tal-Gharb 1771 (Fr Joseph Mintoff); Former postal arrangements in Gozo and conveyance of mails between the two Islands (Anton F. Attard); Grammatica Melitensis (Joe Zammit Ciantar), Malta Litterarja (Victoria Camilleri), Quality Service Charter Booklet (Dorothy Fenech), 150th anniversary postcard (George Vella), L'Ordine 1849-50 (Philip Borg, director of Libraries and Archives), Volume one of Malta at War (J.A. Mizzi), human remains found beneath chapel façade portico at Don Bosco Oratory, Victoria, an inscribed stone from the southern annexe of the Gozo Cathedral and a fluted column from the Gozo Cathedral belfry (George Azzopardi, curator, Gozo Museums).

During the ceremony music was played by Elaine Pavia (piano) and Jessica Grima (violin).