Bermuda's resources on the history of slavery have received some welcome additions from the new International Slavery Museum in the UK.

Social Rehabilitation Minister Dale Butler bought a series of books and documents on the subject on his visit to the venue for its official opening last week.

He donated them to Bermuda National Library and the Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs so that they can be used to help educate people of all ages about how the scars of slavery have blighted the world.

Publications include the Atlas of Slavery, by James Walvin; Slavery, Atlantic Trade and the British Economy 1660 to 1800, by Kenneth Morgan; The African Slave Trade, by Basil Davidson; and The Great Slave Emporium, by Williams St. Clair.

They will complement the library's existing stock, which has been depleted in recent years after books on slavery were loaned out but not returned.

Mr. Butler, a historian and former school teacher, said hard copies stored in the library would give people a better chance of carrying out their own research. "While there's a tremendous amount of information on the Internet, sometimes you can only find one chapter of the book that you are trying to research, such as Basil Davidson's. Now, people can go to the library, and they can take out the book and read it all," he said.

Mr. Butler said Community and Cultural Affairs Minister Wayne Perinchief was organising promotions ahead of the 400th anniversary of the beginning of habitation in Bermuda in 2009. "The Ministry encouraged me to do as much as I could to help them and their planning for 2009 when I went on this trip," said Mr. Butler.

For two centuries from the early 1600s, slavery was an integral part of the Bermudian way of life, with generations of slaves forced to work on the land, aboard ships and in homes.

The Island's 4,200 slaves — almost half the population — were finally freed on Emancipation Day, August 1, 1834, 27 years after the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act banned Britain's part in the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Joanne Brangman, head librarian at Bermuda National Library and Acting Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs, said Mr. Butler's contribution to the library was vital.

She said: "It's very important to get literature like this into our library. Many people think that because Bermuda didn't have plantations we didn't have slavery. But we had our own form of slavery. It's very important that people have a look and learn about our history.

"These books will make a very nice addition to our stock."

Mr. Butler was invited to the opening of the new museum, in Liverpool, through links he established during his time as Cultural Affairs Minister.

He paid for his own accommodation and transport because the four-day trip fell outside his Ministry. It is thought he was the only Minister from the Caribbean region at the event.

The Royal Gazette's Break The Chains campaign has been marking the 200th anniversary of the Slave Trade Act by urging people to sign Anti-Slavery International's on-line petition, which calls for world leaders to take action to free more than 12 million modern day slaves.

To sign the petition, visit www.antislavery.org/2007/actionsign and fill in your details. To comment on Break The Chains, e-mail tsmith@royalgazette.bm