Rural parishes dominate Jamaica Library Service National Reading Competition

Rural parishes emerged as the dominant force at the Jamaica Library Service (JLS) 2026 National Reading Competition, showcasing a strong commitment to literacy across the island. Portland secured two top honors, while a mother and son duo were celebrated as parish champions, highlighting the widespread engagement with the competition.

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This is a word that we all have been using since Melissa arrived and the competition took place against a backdrop of the aftermath of the hurricane, which presented a very significant challenge for the Jamaica Library. Forty-three of our libraries were affected, some sustaining severe damage, and others experienced total loss. As a result, our operations have been reduced from 109 to 85 in nine locations islandwide. Under these circumstances, you would have thought that we would have said, what we do in competition, maybe we should postpone it...

Marsha-Lee Mundle and her son, Liam Williams, were crowned parish champions for Portland in their respective age categories. Mundle also achieved national runner-up status, while Yendi Burke clinched both the parish and national championship for the 12-14 age group. However, the ultimate triumph belonged to Haley Clarke from Trelawny, who narrowly won the overall champion title across all age groups, in addition to her parish and national win in the 15-20 category.

Organizers expressed delight at the competition's growth, with over 7,000 participants, a 37% increase from the previous year. Dr. Maureen Thompson, director general of the JLS, acknowledged the severe impact of Hurricane Melissa on the library network, with 43 libraries affected and operations reduced. Despite these challenges, the competition proceeded, embodying the theme "Together We Read, Together We Rise."

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Based on the devastation, not only to our libraries, but also our staff were affected. But we chose not to. What we did, we embraced the theme that we chose for this year, Together We Read, Together We Rise.

Nicole Campbell McLaren, the new chairman of the JLS board, conveyed her and her fellow board members' enthusiasm for their roles. She emphasized their deep commitment to the JLS mission, aiming to foster a culture of reading and develop a responsive, modern library service that engages young people and serves as a community hub for discussion and connection.

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All of us are very happy to be on this new board and we really feel the call to service in a very deep way and we are very invested in our mission and the success of the JLS and, really, the end goal and most important thing being that reading becomes entrenched.