Morado K’asa Biblioteca ‘Villa Zamora’ — Morado K’asa was the first library BiblioWorks implemented. The tiny community is very traditional and home to just 200 families, all of whom speak Quechua as their first language. Most of the people are farmers and cultivate wheat, potatoes and peaches. The town’s young people requested a library that could double as a cultural space where people could meet and spend time doing more enjoyable activities than just working.
The Peace Corps volunteer in Morado K’asa at the time, Megan Sherar, was able to arrange for her brother to visit the town. He fell in love with the people and the place and decided that his company, Biblio.com, would finance the library for the town. The townspeople built the library and the furniture with their own hands and Biblio.com purchased books, games, computers and other materials to equip the library.
Several years on, the Morado K’asa library continues to function well. Don Dario is the librarian and works there voluntarily. The library’s youth group JUSIBA (Youth Without Borders) is still going strong and with the help of BiblioWorks organizes community service activities both in and outside of the library. Because the librarian is a volunteer, the library is only open three nights a week, but the minute the library doors open, it is full of children and teenagers.
The community of Morado K’asa has been strengthened in many ways by having a public library. It is truly a local library that is used by the community and as a center for education, creative activities and for sharing community news. BiblioWorks has also gained through the library’s achievements, getting valuable experience in constructing and implementing useful and sustainable libraries in the Bolivian countryside.
