| InterAmerican InterAction Newsletter |
September
2002
|
The
COC Village Library opened in July in a small building donated for its
use by villager Saul Garcia and made an immediate difference in the
lives of many children.
One of our summer interns, high school student Santiago Coh, embraced
the idea of starting a village library. Under his guidance, more than
a thousand children's books were catalogued into a database by several
interns, and bookshelves were built by other interns with carpentry
skills.
As soon as we opened, many children, hungry for books (a luxury item
in Columbia), became daily visitors to the library, even before we posted
signs in the shops. Children could be seen reading out loud while walking
home or sitting on their porch steps, often reading to a younger sibling
or two.
We decided that our library, still unknown to many children in the village,
could not continue to be housed in
the small building we had chosen, due to the already existing high volume
of traffic. On our quest for a new building, we made a wonderful discovery.
A building that had been used as a library in the village several years
ago had been repaired by the Belizean government after Hurricane Iris.
There were still some undamaged books for adults, but none for children.
A high school student had been appointed to be the librarian and she
welcomed the donation of our children's books. Her life changed abruptly
as word traveled throughout the village, and large numbers of children
began visiting the library, open 1½ hours daily.
IAIA offered support to the now overwhelmed librarian, and we formed
a committee of village volunteers to help with reshelving books. Story-hour
programs are planned, as well as book report incentives. North American
book-lovers are very much encouraged to visit the village and assist
with these efforts!
Our library project was made possible by members of Children's Literature
for Children (CLC) based in Atlanta, Georgia. The books were collected
primarily at Wesleyan School in Atlanta under the direction of high
school librarian Julie Rosencranz. Thank you to CLC and our friends
at Wesleyan School for providing this wonderful opportunity to enrich
the lives of hundreds of children and young adults in San Pedro Columbia.