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KOTA KINABALU: SM La Salle Tanjung Aru stormed home with a RM3,500 second place triumph at the National Level Excellence Awards for School Resource Centres held at the Glory Beach Resort, Port Dickson, on September 23. Principal Julia Jock received the award from the Director General of Education, Datuk Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof.

The victory should be seen as a tall order, considering the long drawn competitive process La Salle went through to finally clinch the national laurel – Sabah's first such award ever.

First, it must beat all participating schools in Sabah, which it did in 2011, then it must be voted Borneo champion by beating all participating schools in Sarawak as well to earn the right to represent Borneo at the national contest. And won it did the Borneo champion title earlier this year.

The judging criteria comprised of six components namely physical facilities such as library, auditorium, ICT facilities, learning centre and school archive; library collection in terms of books; activities to promote the reading habit such as Book Club and Book Reviews etc; implementation of the Nilam Reading Programme (An intensive reading programme planned to improve the reading habit among school children); Partnership and Networking – State Library , Star Hotel; Special Programmes – The Tactile Project for the Blind.

In addition, the de La Salle Reading Outreach – donation of 1800 books to SK Pita, 1600 E-book facility with the State Library.

The first prize (RM5,000) went to SMK Tengku Panglima Perang Tengku Muhammad Kuatan, Pahang while SM Agama Mahmudiah, Hulu Terengganu, took the RM2,500 third prize.

Fourth and Fifth places went to SMK Sultan Ismail, Johor and SMK King George V, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, respectively.

"We plan to use the cash prize to support library activities," an elated Principal Julia Jock said.