Dr Wayne Henry, liaison officer and economist at the World Bank, says that Jamaica is a society being threatened by mediocrity in all sectors and that our economic and social development is being hampered as a consequence. He believes Jamaicans need to develop a spirit of excellence.

“A society that is content with mediocrity is destined for failure,” Henry said in his keynote address at the 2006 Book Industry Association of Jamaica (BIAJ) National Book Awards Dinner at the Hilton Kingston Hotel on Friday night. “Here in Jamaica, we cannot be satisfied with that. We need to start demanding more of ourselves in whatever we do.

“We lack vision in our leadership. We need to start grooming our future leaders. We need to take stock of ourselves. Wherever excellence is placed, it is going to rise to the top if we allow it.”

At the same time, Henry outlined five principles which he said are key to developing a spirit of excellence. They include: daring to dream (developing a vision for our lives), tuning out the noise of negativity and distraction, learning and practising discipline, giving of our best at all times to combat mediocrity, and acknowledging God.

“If we abide by these and other principles, our lives will be characterised by a spirit of excellence by the time we reach the finish line of our lives,” said Henry, who is also a lay preacher in the Methodist church.

The (BIAJ) honoured several local publishing houses and long-serving industry members with awards. Among the awardees were Carlong Publishers, University of the West Indies (UWI) Press and Ian Randle Publishers. Several employees of the UWI Bookshop, Sangster’s Bookstores and Kingston Bookshop received distinguished service awards. Elizabeth Ramesar of the Jamaica Observer was presented with a special award for 12 years of service to the book industry.

Ramesar is responsible for the Observer’s highly successful CXC and GSAT Lecture Series, as well as the weekly production of the newspaper’s CXC/GSAT Study Centre.

The National Book Awards are held biennially in recognition of excellence in publishing, creativity and the promotion of local authorship to enrich Caribbean culture.

reidt@jamaicaobserver.com