reference material.

Sandys Secondary, Warwick Secondary, Northlands Secondary, Whitney Institute, and St. George's Secondary -- which will become middle schools next year -- have joined the World Wide Web through a new computer network library system set up by Bermuda Business Systems Limited and the Education Department.

And Education Minister Jerome Dill called the state-of-the-art library at Warwick Secondary, where he visited last week, "one of the most exciting of the developments connected with restructuring the school system''.

Mr. Dill said he was impressed with the facility which will be equipped with the Internet.

However, he added: "We have been able to block access to some of the material available on the Internet which ought not to be seen by school children.'' The libraries have been staffed by new teacher/librarians who received training, last month, from Rose Dotten of the University of Toronto.

Mrs. Dotten, course director for the School of Librarianship, told The Royal Gazette that she also planned to create a pool of well-trained librarians who the Education Department could choose from.

She explained that the she was teaching the first section of the three-year University of Toronto Course for librarians, but had modified it to suit Bermuda's needs.

Mrs. Dotten, who has been involved in libraries for almost 30 years, spent the last two weeks giving an overview of the programme to teachers.

"They are the most outstanding group,'' she added. "They are so motivated and creative.

"Basically this has been an overview where we have discussed the roles of a teacher/librarian.

"During this two-week course they have worked on developing an information skills development programme. It was a big project.'' Mrs. Dotten and other instructors from the university will be coming back to the Island over the next three years to teach the programme to teachers enrolled in the course.

"I'll be sending other instructors to focus on specific areas, like the Internet and CD Rom,'' she said. "And I'll be back in November for another course.'' Terry Bruce, a modified middle school teacher at Purvis, told The Royal Gazette the programme had sparked enthusiasm in the participants for the restructuring plan.

"It helps us to be excited about restructuring,'' Ms Bruce said. "And it shows the department's commitment because it (the libraries) will be state-of-the-art.

"The library skills/tool Rose taught us will help us to plan the skills we want the kids to have when they come out of the programme.'' Elanda Stevens, a Primary Two teacher at Gilbert Institute, said the first course was "wonderful and uplifting''.

"She (Mrs. Dotten) has made us excited about the possibility of teacher/librarians,'' she added.

Port Royal Primary Three teacher Sancia Garrison said she felt lucky to be chosen to take part in the course.

Ms Garrison explained that she applied for the programme by filling out a questionnaire and writing a letter stating why she wanted to enrol.

"I got a letter that said it (the course) was oversubscribed,'' she recalled.

"It went to a committee, who made the final decision.'' She added that there was a cross-section of course participants, ranging from preschool to secondary school teachers, because the department hoped to have a teacher/librarian at every level.

Ms Garrison noted that she also found it beneficial to have teaching experience, since teacher/librarians will teach on a part-time basis.

SURFING THE NET -- Teacher/librarians Camery Mitchell, Mary Hogan and Education Minister Jerome Dill seen checking out the new library system at Warwick Secondary School.