News Releases

UWI Librarian named Caribbean Information Professional of the Year

For Release Upon Receipt - July 30, 2008

St. Augustine


Professor Margaret Rouse-Jones, Campus and University Librarian of The University of the West Indies (UWI), was recently named the Caribbean Information Professional of the Year 2008. Professor Rouse-Jones received this prestigious award at the 38th Association of Caribbean University, Research and Institutional Libraries’ (ACURIL) Conference hosted from June 1st -6th , 2008 at Rose Hall Resort, Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Professor Rouse-Jones, one of the 26 library professionals from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and USA who attended the five-day conference, was bestowed the award in recognition of her personal commitment to exemplary service, excellence in scholarship and outstanding accomplishments as an information professional. This accolade is only the most recent in an already growing collection: in 2004, she received The University of the West Indies Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in the area of Service to the University Community; in 2004 she also received ACURIL’s award for Excellence in Publications in the Information Field and in 2006 she was bestowed Professorship by The University of the West Indies.

Professor Rouse-Jones has given twenty-seven years of dedicated service as an information professional. Campus Librarian at UWI St Augustine since 1997, she has been responsible for overseeing all the affairs of the libraries of the St. Augustine Campus where she is based. As University Librarian, she holds responsibility for the coordination of activities among the three main physical campuses of UWI (in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados).Under her efficient leadership and guidance, the three campuses have now seen their library holdings impressively boosted with over 830,000 titles. Professor Rouse-Jones retires from her position as Campus and University Librarian at The University of the West Indies this year (2008).

For further information please contact the UWI Main Library at 662-2002 Ext. 2009.

About ACURIL

The Association of Caribbean University, Research and Institutional Libraries (ACURIL) originated as part of a movement for Caribbean cooperation at the university level, initiated in the late l960’s by the Association of Caribbean Universities (UNICA). Sir Philip Sherlock, of The University of the West Indies, at Mona, Kingston, Jamaica, was its first Secretary-General. UNICA recognised the need for close cooperation among university and research libraries in the region. It sponsored, along with the University of Puerto Rico and its Institute of Caribbean Studies, the first conference of librarians in university and research libraries of the region in Puerto Rico in 1969. While adhering to the original proposal of collaboration among university and research libraries within the framework of UNICA, the Association recognized that it should embrace all kinds of libraries that traditionally functioned as research libraries. Public libraries, in particular, were effectively basic providers of information in many of the small Caribbean countries. There were also a growing number of special libraries in government and other institutions that should be included in the Association. The word ‘institute’ was therefore removed from the title of the Association, but the acronym remained unchanged. In 1976 the organization was renamed Association of Caribbean University, Research and Institutional Libraries, providing ample space for all information units in the Caribbean.

Contact