“If we can come up with grants, we can hopefully connect the students to the field of journalism and information, and later get them interested in this field,” Florine M. Hofschneider, Northern Mariana Islands Library Council representative for Tinian said during a press conference at the Joeten-Kiyu library.
Hofschneider, a retired educator, said they are currently volunteering their services to run the Tinian library.
“For the summer, we have a summer reading program going on, and we have a lot of students who are availing of our programs,” she said.
NMI Library Council Chairman Joe Limes said they are working hard to ensure that the communities on Tinian and Rota get access to public libraries.
For Rota, Joeten-Kiyu Public Library executive director John O. Gonzales said they will be meeting with the mayor and lawmakers soon to discuss opening the public library there.
“We have a state-of-the-art facility on Rota, but unfortunately, we don’t have the manpower and the collections needed to make the library functional,” Gonzales said.
“We want the people of both Tinian and Rota to enjoy what Saipan residents are enjoying, and that is access to the collections and services of a public library,” Gonzales added.
