Teacher Workshop in Tomina

Teachers create their own stories from picture books

This week BiblioWorks held a one-day workshop for teachers in Tomina. The BiblioWorks staff worked with forty-two teachers offering them innovative reading activities for their classrooms. The workshop was designed so that the teachers would have new and creative strategies to get kids to read, no matter what subject they teach. The forty-two teachers ranged from kindergarten through twelfth grade and we were able to work in small groups so they were free to design activities based on the level they teach.READ MORE

Kids make bookmarks in BiblioWorks’ libraries

Some of the bookmarks being made in Tomina

Libraries are a wonderful place not only for curling up and reading a good book, but also for cultural activities. Even though our eight libraries in Bolivia are small, there are many kids that go every day to do their homework, read, play games, and learn how to use the computer. Each librarian also offers a variety of different activities ranging from arts and crafts to reading games.READ MORE

BiblioWorks participates in local exposition

Our table at the exposition

This past week BiblioWorks participated in an exposition fair with other non-profit organizations in the city of Sucre. The fair was organized by an organization called C.I.M.E.T. which works with child workers who work on the streets of Sucre. BiblioWorks participated in a press conference, presented a short power point presentation about our work supporting literacy and gave people some interactive ways to encourage literacy and reading habits in children.

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Cultural festival in Morado K’asa

The librarian in traditional indigenous dress for the town festival

 

Last week the entire BiblioWorks team traveled to our oldest library in Morado K’asa to celebrate their town’s anniversary. When we arrived we were greeted warmly by the librarian and other community members with some “chicha” the local corn beer, which is drank during important festivals. The town organized several different parties showcasing some of the typical indigenous dances, music and food.

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The eighth BiblioWorks library opens its doors!

BiblioWorks is excited to announce the opening of our eighth library in rural Bolivia! The newest member of the BiblioWorks family is located in the town of Tomina, which is about 100 kilometers from the city of Sucre. It is a small town, with beautiful green hills and a peaceful river.

 

 

 

 

Kids being entertained before the ceremony READ MORE

Tomina library opening, two weeks away!

WE ARE 2 WEEKS AWAY FROM OPENING OUR TOMINA LIBRARY!

Thank you to all of our committed readers and especially to those of you who have supported us over the past couple months to make the Tomina Library a reality.  Our staff in Bolivia has been working diligently with the local government and schools in the town of Tomina, and we are very excited to announce that the library will officially open on February 14th, 2011!  READ MORE

Telling our own stories

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about stories.  I read an excellent book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, by Donald  Miller.  In his book, Miller reports being approached by movie producers who wanted to write a story about his life.  But in writing that story, they realized that his character is not very sellable for a movie.  They begin to make him a “better character”, by giving him conflict, good looks, and worthwhile struggles in life.  READ MORE

The end of the Bolivian school year and new beginnings for BiblioWorks

The end of the year is approaching rapidly and for BiblioWorks that means working hard with librarians, teachers and children to finish out the school year with lots of kids using the libraries to finish the year with good grades. The school year will officially end in Bolivia the first week of December which gives us about six more weeks to make our final rounds to all of the libraries and make sure they are full of smiling children. READ MORE

Don Dario, my inspiration!

Dario Ramos with his wife, Christina, and 4 of their youngest children, Zenaida (14), Alex (8), Richard (9), and Nayeli (5), at their home in Morado K’asa.

Looking back 5 years ago, it was hard for me to imagine being anywhere but in Bolivia, South America.  After the Peace Corps, the love that I had developed for that Andean country, from its high snow-covered peaks to its twisting valleys and roads, from the warm nature of the Bolivian people to the hot bowls of homemade soup, begged me to stay longer and enjoy more.  Of course there were times that I yearned to be back home in Asheville, North Carolina, but in the end Bolivia won my heart for 6 wonderful years. Why leave a place where everyday feels like an adventure?  And why leave when my older brother had offered me this amazing opportunity to build libraries for children in this country that I love so much?READ MORE

A trip to Sopachuy!

Faustino is the librarian of the library in Tarabuco

Sopachuy is a peaceful village with two gorgeous rivers, nestled between beautiful, green and towering mountains. There are approximately 1,100 people who live in the tiny hamlet of Sopachuy, mainly making their living as farmers, cultivating corn, potatoes and ají (a kind of green chili). Sopachuy has a humid-hot climate, a nice break from the arid frigidness of Sucre. The name of the town comes from the Quechua Supay meaning devil or god of the underworld and Churu meaning island. READ MORE

La Sonrisa de los Niños

Nuestro trabajo en BiblioWorks tiene diversos matices, a veces tristes y muchas veces alegres, pero siempre nos acompaña la sonrisa de los niños que ilumina todo nuestro quehacer, voy a redactarles una actividad realizada en la Biblioteca Municipal de Yamparáez el jueves 22 de abril de 2010, festejamos el día del libro y los tres años de la Fundación de la Biblioteca.READ MORE

BiblioWorks needs your help to open a new library this year

On a cloudy, rainy summer day in Sucre, during the Carnaval festivities, while people were celebrating with parades, music and water balloons in the streets, the BiblioWorks staff had been discussing the location for a new library in Bolivia. BiblioWorks started 2010 with some great news; Biblio.com and the BiblioWorks Board of Directors agreed to finance a new library project in Bolivia!READ MORE

BiblioWorks needs your help to reach new goals and dreams

Our non-profit organization is one of a kind here in Bolivia. When Brendan Sherar and his sister, Megan, initially decided to start BiblioWorks nearly five years ago, there was little understanding among Bolivians living in rural areas about the importance of a library in their town or what it could mean for their community. Now our libraries are being used for many diverse activities. Teachers, librarians, children and other members of the communities where we work are incorporating their libraries into their daily lives and the libraries themselves are becoming an inseparable component of the educational systems in small rural towns.READ MORE

Biblioworks opens two new libraries and meets goals for making libraries sustainable

BiblioWorks has gone through many changes this year.  The biggest of these is that Megan Sherar, our project coordinator in Bolivia for the past two years, is moving home to return to her family and loved ones in the United States. The work that Megan did while in Bolivia, both as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morado K’asa and as Project Coordinator for BiblioWorks is impressive and will live on long after she moves on to other challenges. I heartily thank her for her dedication to education and her passion for bettering the lives of Bolivian families.  Best of luck in your future endeavors, Megan!

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Allen Singleton
Featured Library: Padilla
To be inaugurated in June 2016
BiblioWorks’ 13th library
4 hours from Sucre
Learn More...