The ABCs

You might be wondering what I’ve been doing with my time. Here it is, four months into my volunteer service, and just about all I’ve written about so far is my personal life. I leave it up to you to judge whether or not that’s been interesting, but what it hasn’t been is very informative about the work I’m here to do.

So I’ve decided to start a series of notes on what I do when I’m not daydreaming or fighting off culture shock—my actual job. In honor of a favorite genre of children’s literature, I’ll call it the ABCs of the Bolivia libraries program. I’ll beg to depart from the usual order and start instead with…

W is for workshop.

When the MCC libraries program started in 1985, the emphasis was on establishing new libraries. Kids needed a place where they could read and do their homework; MCC donated books and helped the community arrange for the necessary infrastructure.

The physical side of promoting libraries is still a major part of what we do, but in the last few years our program has focused increasingly on something harder to see and touch: training and capacity-building. It’s become increasingly clear that much more important than the number and type of books on the shelves is the people who put them into circulation: specifically, teachers, librarians, and the community leaders who serve on committees that oversee the libraries’ work. If these people are good at getting books into people’s hands, libraries will become a living part of community life. If not, the legacy of the libraries program will be nothing more than shelves lined with dusty books.

So we put on workshops. This year, my coworker Sandra and I will lead workshops for librarians and library committee members on topics ranging from managing petty cash to planning activities—reading contests, sports championships, crafts workshops, etc.—that will get community members to participate in the life of the library (and vice versa). We’ll also travel to school districts as far away as Sucre* to equip teachers to organize their books, make reading an exciting part of the classroom experience, and make learning fun through educational games.

In the workshops I’ve helped lead so far, I’ve been amazed at people’s eagerness to learn new ways of doing things, even they have to stay late on a Friday afternoon or give up a Saturday to do so. It’s rewarding to see the proverbial light go on in their eyes when they finally “get” the Dewey Decimal System, or their delight at learning a word game they think their students will enjoy as much as they did. We hope that, as they put their new skills into practice, that light will get passed on.

*Wondering where in the world Sucre is? Stay tuned for the next installment in the libraries program ABCs, “T is for travel.”