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.