“La Biblioteca Movil”
We are delighted – our ‘Journey through reading’, Mobile Library service for schools in Perez Zeledon, is now on the road!
Thanks to our members for kind book donations, and raising $600, we were able to fill three crates with a lovely selection of 130 books and began our first deliveries to four small schools in May 2015. These schools have between 45-60 pupils; are all in isolated rural areas, mainly in coffee farming communities.
Two of these schools have now introduced dedicated reading time and one has even reduced the children’s homework so they have more time to read. This first collection will allow these schools to have a library delivery every six weeks, and retain the books for two weeks.
Whereas we had consulted schools about the library’s development, the proof of the pudding is in the eating! The feedback from these first pilot schools has been enormously reassuring and rewarding ~ Here are a few comments received.
San Ramon Norte: We congratulate the Club on this initiative and their promotion of the love of reading. The best part of the project is inclusion of the books from the recommended list of the Ministry of Education
San Jose de Rivas:The motivation the books have awakened in the children has been incredible!
Santa Teresa de Cajon: The books have been a great help in the classroom for daily reading; the children don’t have access to books like these in their homes
San Gerardo de Rivas: The collection is very varied and interesting, the children are enjoying their books very much.
As of August 2015, we are now buying the second collection to enable us to enroll the next four schools, waiting eagerly in the wings. It’s a challenge – these are schools with between 150-200 children. To ensure no child is disappointed, we need a collection of around 250 books to provide choice for all the cohorts in different age groups. We hope to get that circuit going in September and to raise enough funds for a third circuit before the school year ends in December.
