Biblioteca Riecken Tatumbla, Honduras

John and I had a fabulous visit to the Riecken Library in Tatumbla, a rural community outside of the Honduran capitol city of Tegucigalpa. At this library we had the opportunity to meet several members of the Library Junta, a group of civic minded individuals that donate their time and money to the continuation of the community library.

Upon arrival, John and I met with two members of the Junta, Rosaria Melendez, Vice-President, and Elena Elvir, Treasurer. We also met with the librarian, Ana Carolina Diaz, and community volunteer, Daysi Casco.

The Tatumbla Library directs many projects and activities. One of the most interesting is El Barriltete Viajero, a project that circulates sport bags of books throughout the local schools (photo). Each bag contains an assortment of interesting children's books. The bags are kept circulating among the various schools, keeping a fresh reading selection for teachers and students.





(Photo: Beth, John, and the Treasurer of the Junta, Dona Elena Elvir)


The Library also hosts Actividades Generacionales, Adultos Mayores (activities for senior citizens); Artesonia (pottery and kiln skills); Curso de Corte y Confeccion (home skills class); Curso de Electricidad (electrical training); Curso de Computacion; and Hora de Cuenta (story hour). The building has a nice outdoor seating area where the municipality, teachers, cooperatives, and other community groups meet.

We were brought to Tatumbla by Francklin and Delin from the Riecken Office in Tegucigalpa. They brought along a donation from Fondo ACI-ERP, a bundle of creative art supplies to support manual activities that accompany a successful story hour. A wonderful collection of scissors, colored paper, glue, sparkles, and other materials. It was very much holiday appropriate!

On the other hand, the Tatumbla Library struggles in many ways. The Municipality was only able to pay for eight months of salaries and utilities this past year, The Junta contributed the funds for the other four months. Their computers are now six years old and run very slow. The situation demands that patrons pay a small fee for internet access. The Library used to emply an additional half-time librarian but no longer, now Ana runs the library alone with support from la Junta.

Many thanks to la Junta, Riecken staff, and library staff!

From left: John, Ana Carolina Diaz, Dasil Eloisa Mejia, Elena Elvir, Beth, Ana Carolina Diaz, Rosaria Melendez, and Dona Elvir's husband.

Bibliomovil, Corralito, Honduras

Saturday afternoon we headed up a winding gravel road by tuctuc to the community of Corralito, to visit another Riecken Bibliomovil. John and I have really enjoyed all the opportunities our library travels have given us, these tuctuc travels to small rural communities being one of the best.


Our voyage today was to la Escuela Modesto Rodas Alvarado, a rural school with 115 students and three teachers. Paolina Amador is one of the teachers and has agreed to serve as librarian for the Riecken Bibliomovil.  (Photo: Paolina reads to the children attending a celebration for El Dia de los Ninos).



In Corralito, the Bibliomovil is in the beginning phase, with 200 books having been delivered for use in the school and by the community. The books will be given space in Paolina's house, right next to the school building.




In addition to story hour, we also were fortunate to attend Julio Perez (right) telling stories to the youth about his time growing up in Corralito. To my surprise, many of the children (mostly young boys) paid attention to this community elder, very much interested in what he had to say.



To end the celebration, Gloria and the Riecken Foundation had supplied a pinata. The pinata was a blond, really the only other blonde I had seen in the last week. He was promptly destroyed, bringing much joy to all.

Many thanks to Gloria, Paolina, and the Corralito community!

Community Bibliomovils in the Department of Copan, Honduras: Sesemil

On Saturday morning, John and I were picked up at our hotel by Gloria Zobeydan Romero (Local Corrdinator). She arrived by tuc-tuc, an efficient and very popular mode of transport. (Photo: Tuc-tuc in front of Sesemil Bibliomovil). The ride was on a muddy, uphill, and beautiful road, an adventure in itself.

The Copan Bibliomovils, as created by Riecken, are ten small libraries in surrounding communities, supplied with books and ongoing training.

 In Sesemil, the Bibliomovil is staffed by two young volunteers, Duvin Yoleny Liverra (15) and Irma Suyapa Guerra (16). The Bibliomovil is housed in a small building in front of Duvin's parents' house and includes 200 books including children's, young adult, and reference books.

(Photo: John, Gloria Zobeydan Romero, Duvin Yoleny Liverra, Irma Suyopa Guerra, and young patron of the Bibliomovil)

Duvin tells us that the Bibliomovil has story hour every Saturday morning, with around ten children attending. Sometimes, if materials are available, they will also organize craft projects for those attending.

We asked Duvin what is most needed by the Sesemil Bibliomovil. She said that a computer, materials for hands-on craft projects, and more picture books for the children would all be helpful to the community.

Both Duvin and Irma enjoy working with children. When asked what she would like to do in the future, Duvin said she would like to continue her work with the Bibliomovil and hopes to see it grow in the future.

Biblioteca Publica Copan Ruinas Roberto Sosa

(Photo, Children's Corner of the Library)

On Friday, we arrived in Copan Ruinas, Honduras (population 3,000; altitude 2,000 feet), a town close to the Guatemala border and named after the nearby Copan ruins, an ancient center of the Mayan civilization. Soon after checking into our hotel, I went to visit the Library, named Roberto Sosa after the Honduran poet. (John stayed at the hotel, recuperating from stomach troubles. Poor John).

The day of my visit was a busy one for the Library. A Riecken team from Tegucigalpa (Capitol of Honduras) was wrapping up a three day training event for local library leaders. In addition, a community event was being held in the conference room. Upon my arrival I met Dasil Eliosa Mejia and Francklin Eduardo Sierra (Riecken Program Officials), Gloria Zobeydan Romero (Local Coordinator for Copan), and Cinthia Xaniva Valdez (Copan Ruinas Librarian).

(Photo: Community meeting about environmental law and mining)

The first thing I noticed about the Roberto Sosa Library was the high quality of the book collection. Riecken funded and built the current library building in 2009 and supplied the majority of the 4,000 books. The library has over 700 books for children and youth, an up-to-date and quality reference collection (including an atlas of Honduras, a world atlas, and dictionaries-- resources valuable to the local students), and many works of literature by Spanish language authors including Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende. In addition to the books, the library has a periodicals collection with old and new issues mixed together, including one current subscription to a popular Honduran monthly magazine, Hablemos Claros, paid for by Riecken.

The library also houses a technology center with four computers with internet access (internet access donated by a local cable provider), as well as a laptop, projector, and photocopier.

Activities at the Sosa Library include a reading group; Zona X (a group of Maya Choti youth that act as leaders in regional literacy efforts); Proyecta Maya ( a group that meets once a week to learn about Maya Choti culture and language); and Maestro en Cosa Educatodos (a community program that meets Saturday mornings at the Library, adult students taking high school classes from home and meeting with instructors  once a week); and a book exchange (mainly for the many tourists visiting Copan).

In speaking with the Riecken and Library staff, they confirmed what I had heard from others during my library visits, that due to a change in mayors in Copan Ruinas, the librarian's salary was no longer being paid by the municipality. As initially stated in the contract with Riecken, the municipality was to provide the salaries for two librarians. Instead, Cinthia works as the sole librarian and receives a small token salary provided by the Junta, a local board that administers the Library. In my visits to other sustainable library programs, I have witnessed the same situation in both Ghana and Zambia: municipalities or partner organizations that either change their minds or are unable to meet salary agreements. Hopefully, with a future change in mayors, the municipality will once again pay salaries for two librarians.

Many thanks to Cinthia for her time and the wonderful tour of the Roberto Sosa Public Library.

(Photo, from left: Gloria Zobeydan Romero, Cinthia Xanira Valdez, and Francklin Eduardo Sierra).

Biblioteca Comunitaria, Chiche, "Ventanas Abiertas al Futuro"

John and I arrived on market day in Chiche (population 28,000) and the found the library in the center of all the action, facing the main square. The library was built in 2005, with Riecken paying half the cost of construction, the municipality 40%, and the community 10%. The building is small compared to other libraries we have visited but an extension is planned into the empty lot next door. Inside the building we met Alba Estrada, Director, and Amaira Barrios Soto, Librarian.  As shown in the pictures, the library is colorful, housing many books, and a children's corner. The library also has computers for the community but has had no internet access for the past year, due to the high cost of connection.

The Library works in conjunction with local schools, providing information for students and teachers. Library space is reserved for bilingual materials (Spanish and Kiche) available to local educators. The materials include dictionaries, and books about grammar, idioms, and regional culture throughout Guatemala.

In speaking with Alba, we find that the library organizes an impressive number of activities and maintains partnerships with various local and international organizations. The library hosts an English Club three times a week (taught by a Peace Corps volunteer); book clubs; Ninas Tejedores (girls that are learning embroidery skills); Pixab'-Consejo' (a group of community elders that share stories and skills with 9-10 year olds); Estimulacion Temprano (a class for mothers with children 0-5 years old); and Arte Maya (lessons about local Maya culture, language, and art).

One program in particular, Privados de Libertad Preventivo-Rehabilitacion, is worthy of details. Originally the idea of Alba and supported by Riecken and the local community, this program has established a library in the local penitentiary for inmates. The prison library currently holds 800 books, 200 donated by Riecken and the rest by community members. 

    In addition to working with Riecken, Alba has done a fabulous job of creating relationships with other organizations such as Derechos Humanos; the Municipality, El Ministry de Salud (Health Ministry), El Centro Educativos, and the PNC (Policia Nacional). Proyecto Finlandia donates funds to the library in order to promote environmental awareness.

Many thanks to Alba and Amaira for being such wonderful hosts. (Photo: John, Alba Estrada, and Amaira Barrios Soto).

Rija'lzuul Na'ooj (Seed of Knowledge), San Juan La Laguna

After a beautiful boat ride across Lake Atitlan, John and I arrived at the library in San Juan la Laguna (population 12,000), Rija'tzuul Na'ooj, greeted by the library's director, Isreal Quic. The library began in 1990 as a community initiative and in 2005, moved to its current location, a bright and spacious building decorated with colorful murals. In building the library, the community and municipality paid for 70% of the cost, with the Riecken Foundation contributing 30%. Community members not only helped to fund the structure, they also labored to build the library.

Currently the library has 7,000 books, five computers with internet access, and wifi (paid for by Isreal). Additional library resources include a television, a DVD player, and projector. Luis tells us that the library often shows movies, soccer games, and important election/news coverage, projected on a blank wall. The sale of popcorn during these activities helps raise funds to purchase books at the National Book Fair in Guatemala City. This year the library was able to purchase 83 books, an important step in assuring that the library collection meets the needs of the community.

During our visit, a local volunteer was helping children with a weaving project, providing a creative and educational opportunity during the two month school vacation. Luis tells us the community uses the library for many purposes -- adults come for community meetings, young mothers attend parenting classes offered by the Health Center, teachers come for training sessions, and political candidates participate in public debates. He also tells us, among children and youth, the planned activities are the top library attraction, followed by computers. Statistics for the month of March, 2011 reflect continued community support and interest, with 830 children (0-12), 870 youth (13-21) and 267 adults using the library in some capacity.

Isreal Quic, Director

Biblioteca Comunitaria, K'ak'nojibal (New Knowledge), Xolsacmalja

(From the left, Zoila Villatoro Palacios, Evelyn Caniz Menchu, and John, with the books published in K'iche by the Riecken Foundation)

This morning John and I visited the community library in Xolsacmalja, Guatemala. We received a warm welcome from Urbano Jose Menchu, Director, and the library staff, Zoila and Evelyn. In Kiche, the library is named K'ak'nojib'al-- meaning new knowledge. The library was built in 2009 with funds from Riecken and the local community, among other donors.

The building itself serves many purposes for the community including a bank branch, a room for medical visits (with the very low cost of 2 quetzales, about 25 cents, US$), and a large room for community meetings. The library itself is a large, cheery room housing 3,000 books, four public computers with free internet access, toys, a stove (for cooking lessons), and cultural artifacts.

During our visit, Zoila and Evelyn took turns reading to a small group of children. Evelyn reads the book in English (she doesn't speak K'iche but tells us the children are teaching her the language), followed by Evelyn telling the same story to the children in K'iche.

Photo to the right: Story Hour = La Hora de Cuenta.

In addition to support from Riecken, the K'ak'nojibal Library works with many other non-profit groups and with the local community. In the past year, the community raised over 3,000 quetzales for the librarians to purchase 70 new books for the library during their annual trip to the National Book Fair in Guatemala City.

The library also manages a project, Vivero Forestal Comunal Juvenil, in partnership with Helvetas de Suisa. Community youth work to grow tree seedlings and selling them, supplying both economic and environmental aid to the community. 

To the right: Urbano discusses the Vivero Forestal project with Beth.

Part of the Riecken model is transparency of information. During our visit, Urbano shared library statistics with us, quite impressive for a community of 900 people. During the month of March, 2011, the library saw a total of 280 attendees, the large majority (226) under the age of twelve. The computers were used a total of 54 times and many activities took place, including three story hours and three baby-mother reading/stimulation sessions. 

One last interesting anecdote. I asked what happens if a child does not return a book. Answer-- one of the librarians will go to the child's house and ask for it. Made me smile. 

Riecken in Guatemala, A Warm Welcome

I've been a big fan of the Riecken Foundation and their work creating community libraries in Guatemala and Honduras ever since I first learned about them while attending IFLA in Quebec, 2008. This summer John and I met Bill Cartwright (President and CEO) when he presented at the International Sustainable Library Development (ISLD) Interest Group at ALA Annual. Bill has been great in helping us set up a tour of Riecken Libraries throughout Guatemala and Honduras, a two-week library adventure.


Today John and I headed to the Riecken offices near Antigua, Guatemala, inside La Azotea Cultural Center.  Romeo Rodriguez (above on the left, with John) and Luis Quic were incredibly gracious in their welcome and sharing information. We were soon joined by Paul Guggenheim, Country Director for Guatemala.

Romeo and Paul spent the next couple of hours sharing information, answering our questions, and helping us finalize our travels plans for the library visits. As described by Romeo, four primary goals of the Riecken Foundation include Capacity and Leadership Building; Strengthening of Civil Society; Providing Access to Information and Technology; and Fostering the Spirit of Discovery Through Literacy. A fantastic source of information is a recently produced video describing new initiatives at selected Riecken libraries. 

After our meeting, Paul gave us a quick tour of the coffee farm that provides the space for the Riecken office. A beautiful setting outside the colonial city of Antigua. Riecken Guatemala actually sells the coffee to raise funds for libraries. An extra bonus for John and I who came to learn about libraries and picked up some knowledge about coffe (my favorite beverage) as well. Pictured at right are Paul and John standing near coffee beans spread out to dry in the sun.

A big thanks to Paul, Romeo, and other Guatemala Riecken staff for all their help and advice!

Riecken Foundation, Guatemala Office. (from left) Paul Guggenheim, John and Beth, Romeo Rodriguez, Ilse Zamora, Luis Quino, and Isreal Quic.