Books and Wings

                                3030 Broadway Redwood City, CA  94062

                        Email: todd_phoenix@yahoo.com   Tel: 650-369-9615

Books and Wings Foundation of Guatemala: Outreach

Story hours in classrooms

Librarians and scholarship students visit classrooms to read to children, engage them in reading related activities and to encourage them to visit the library (Multiple times a week: Tiquisate and Chicacao).

Cajas Viajeras

Librarians bring large bins of books to a rural school for one day. After one or more story hours, the books are displayed in an empty classroom or other open space and classes take turns visiting the temporary “library” to read books. The idea is to have a mobile library to provide service to outlying areas (Weekly: Tiquisate).

Bolsas Viajeras

Teachers come to the library and check out a bag of books to use in their classroom. They can either choose the books themselves or get help from the librarians (Varies: Tiquisate and Chicacao).

Book Loans

Most Guatemalan libraries do not loan books for fear of losing their collection. Two of the libraries we work with are exceptions to that rule. Tiquisate and Chicacao are each loaning hundreds of books a month. Loans are pending in Rio Bravo.

Mini-Libraries - Rural Schools

One or more large bins of books are loaned to a rural school for the school year. The students pay a small fee (typically one Quetzal per student - $.15 US) for this privilege. At the end of the school year, the books come back to the library. As long as the books are in good shape (used, but not abused), half the “loan fee” is returned to the school to buy a book of its own. The other half goes to the library petty cash fund. (4-schools in the municipality of Chicacao, 2 or 3 schools in Tiquisate and one school pending in Rio Bravo).

Mini-Libraries - Public Buildings

A set of 30 or so high quality hard back books is loaned to a government or private entity, and is placed in the lobby for public access. Children’s books make up most of the collections, but we also include some adult material. The purpose is to encourage parents to read (or look at) books with their children, and for adults to have access to printed material. It is also a way to encourage people to visit the library - where there are more books! (Municipal buildings - Tiquisate, Rio Bravo and pending in Chicacao; Christian Children’s Fund - Chicacao; Cope Jr. Children’s Credit Union - Tiquisate).

Trainings for librarians, teachers, and school administrators

Working in tandem with the Reicken Foundation, Child Aid, PROBIGUA (Guatemalan Libraries Project), Consejo de Lectura de Guatemala, and the National Library, Books and Wings has offered trainings to hundreds of teachers, librarians and administrators on themes such as teaching reading and writing, and critical thinking skills. Books and Wings also sponsors the attendance of a dozen or so educators at the semi-annual International Reading Conference in Guatemala City.

Meetings for librarians throughout the region

Librarians from communities throughout the Costa Sur have taken turns hosting meetings to exchange ideas and visit other libraries to see what their colleagues are doing.  This allows them to share information and concerns, to problem solve and support each other (Previously monthly, now occasional).

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