The Quintin O'Connor Library
The library was first established by our third President General Comrade George Weekes, during his tenor as It was named after Quintin O’Connor to honour a man who was the best read trade unionist of his time. In 1940, O'Connor incorporated the USAC into the Federated Workers Trade Union (FWTU), which he took over with Albert Gomes.
Quintin O Connor believed that radical socialism was the answer to the many social ills that faced society in Trinidad and dedicated his life to this concept. He pursued it politically and in the Trade Union Movement. He was convinced that Trade Unions must be political in their approach to life and also that socialism needed a strong Trade union Movement for its success, he worked unceasingly for these twin goals. In the elections of 1950, O’Connor ran for a seat in the Legislative Council under the banner of the TTTUC, but lost with just over 30% of the vote. In April 1951, he was one of the founding members of the West Indian Independence Party (WIIP).
The library had its first trained library professional Mrs. Donna Coombs Montrose, who came on board in 1981. At this time the library was located on the Executive Floor of Paramount Building. It was later relocated to the Conference Floor of Paramount Building on January 25th, 2002; An entirely new team was assigned and the spacious new location on the second floor of the Paramount Building lends itself perfectly to the new vision and set of objectives developed for the Library.
Library hours
Our Library hours will be the same as always - Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 12:00am and then 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Among our new features are
· The "CLR James Collection",
· "The Eldon Warner Collection",
· Re-introduction of the Internet Research Facility and
· The ability to obtain hardcopies of such research at a small cost.
Some of our more immediate objectives include
· Library Building - the collection and purchase of new books,
· Renewed emphasis on Health, Safety and Environment Publications and Research,
· Merging of the Websites Function with that of the Library and
· A new lending policy that will include a penalty system for late return on loans.
We would like to invite Union Members to make book contributions towards our Library Building Project. We ask that donations comprise initially, of books on labour and related issues, politics and economics and seminar papers. Contact us at library@owtu.org