By Adia Wynter
The Antigua Public Library is the beneficiary of a donation of six fully functional tablets facilitated by the local organisation Redonda Robots.
On August 13, Redonda Robots’ Vice President, Marc Xavier, and benefactor to Redonda Robots, Hannibal Fleming, presented the six tablets to the Public Library on behalf of the group.
This donation, according to Fleming, is one fuelled by an appreciation for country and its forward-movement, as well as Redonda Robots’ continued support in local STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) initiatives.
“As an expatriate who resides overseas, I continue to try to help to fill whatever needs the library has. As a person who is very interested in STEM initiatives, I continue to look for opportunities in the United States that are low-hanging fruit… to assist Antigua,” Fleming explained.
Redonda Robots is no stranger to the Public Library as the organisation has been a member of the Public Library community for four years. Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, an annual robotics workshop was orchestrated through the collaboration of Redonda Robots and the library.
The library’s Automation Coordinator, Sandra Christian, expressed gratitude on behalf of the facility for the donation from its long-time partner.
“We’d like to thank Redonda Robots for their timely donation. They have always partnered with the library… It will add to our complements of technological devices and enable us to be a bit more mobile,” Christian said.
She added, “We also loan laptops, and sometimes our complement is limited, and so this will enable us to be able to loan out more devices.”
The addition of these tablets to the library’s arsenal has attracted the interest of teachers as well. Makeda Challenger, history teacher at the Pares Secondary School, shared her anticipation for students’ access to these new devices.
“As a history teacher, I place great emphasis on research. As such, having these devices will foster greater opportunities for our students to develop their research skills,” she explained.
Challenger went on to say, “This donation will open more doors to students who heavily rely on the public library and its resources, and I am looking forward to the new school year with these tablets to help them out.”
The tablets were gifted to Redonda Robots by the international organisation ARGO Critical Solutions. ARGO had previously undergone a technological refresh and was no longer in need of the devices.
As such, benefactor to Redonda Robots, Fleming, procured the tablets for their donation to the Antigua Public Library.