US-based philanthropist looks to transform St James Parish Library

WESTERN BUREAU:

Convinced that education remains one of the most powerful weapons in the fight against crime and poverty, Jamaica-born academic and philanthropist Dr Janice Johnson Dias has decided to invest in literacy and girls’ leadership.

Johnson Dias, founder and president of the United States-based GrassROOTS Community Foundation, has developed a five-year plan to transform the St James Parish Library into a modern learning hub while mentoring girls from Flankers.

“I started to see two things happening in Jamaica: literacy rates were going down, and youth crime was going up,” said Johnson Dias, who also serves as a sociologist and professor at the City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “So, I asked the question: Could investing in literacy produce a positive outcome for young people?”

After studying communities where literacy rates were low and youth crime was high, the foundation selected St James, St Catherine and St Ann for a long-term intervention centred on public libraries.

“We met with all of the libraries in those parishes because public libraries are open to all, and every bit of research tells us that libraries can become safe, equitable, community-centered spaces,” she said.

According to Johnson Dias, the St James Parish Library became the foundation’s first major project, noting that the foundation has already invested more than US$35,000 in upgrading the facility, which now features a fully equipped podcast studio.

“We built a podcast room here already because we know digital literacy is attractive to kids,” Johnson Dias told The Gleaner on Wednesday. “The podcast room is completed. What we now have to do is train staff to use the podcast room and then train young people to use the podcast room.”

She also stated that the reference section of the library is poised to undergo a complete renovation.

“We’re going to fully renovate it (the reference section). You can’t have a new space and old books. You need a new space and new books,” she said. “That gives a feeling to the young people and to those who utilise it that somebody cares. You deserve to have a great space to just get lost in books.”

The foundation has already donated more than 2,000 books to the St James Parish Library and approximately 50,000 books across Jamaica.

“Every one of Jamaica’s 14 parish libraries has received 2,000 diverse books featuring black and brown children as the main characters,” said Johnson Dias, noting that the foundation’s literacy work in Jamaica began in 2016 through the efforts of her daughter, Marley Dias, founder of the internationally acclaimed #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign.

“In my work at GrassROOTS, I lead girls’ leadership development, and girls have to use their talents to solve a social issue.”

The library project is closely linked to the foundation’s leadership programme for girls from Flankers.

“The girls ... are engaged in the morning programme, and then in the afternoon, I am doing some girls’ leadership development work with them,” said Johnson Dias.

According to her, the programme recognises the critical role women and girls play in strengthening communities.

“The people who are most left to care for communities are indeed girls and women,” she said. “What often happens is that they don’t take very good care of themselves as human beings, and so they are ill-positioned to lead because they often have mental and physical health effects that handicap them.

“What we know globally is that the poorest people on the planet, no matter which continent you’re on, are girls and women. Yet those who are asked the most of are girls and women,” she added.

Marilee Moodie, senior librarian at the St James Parish Library, described the initiative as one that has transformed both the library’s facilities and its programmes.

“Dr Janice Johnson Dias has a passion for mentoring people. She is exceptionally passionate about literacy and young people, especially young girls, having access to information and being able to maximize their full potential and be the best person they can be,” said Moodie.

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