Janet Lowe

Another public school in need of a library has been discovered and plans are going forward to create the biblioteca in Escuela Rodolfo Menendez Primaria April 11, bringing together Leyendo and Library in a Week again. When I talked with one of the teachers he told me that the school did indeed already have a library so I asked to come see it. What I found was a storage room for old student workbooks that the government provides each year, some metal bookshelves, broken school desks and a couple plastic picnic tables. Each school is provided with a room for a library but no books. And my organization, Leyendo, had already given all the donated books to previous libraries so we started from scratch needing to gather all we could find.

The Leyendo fundraiser at Pueblo SacBe had provided some much needed cash so I began checking out Amazon.com.mx for Spanish language children’s books and making orders. I started with just a couple as I was unsure how dependable delivery would be but it worked like a charm – as long as I wanted to stay home for days and weeks to receive their shipments as they wouldn’t just toss them over the fence but needed a signature for every delivery.

While in Valladolid recently I discovered a Dante Bookstore with a huge children’s section. And especially these two series that Dante publishes with great art work and absolutely charming stories.

We have gathered over 200 books to start this new library. Both the morning and afternoon directors are excited about the project and have promised to appeal to parents and students for help with cleaning, painting and decorating the space. I have had fun researching Spanish language children’s books, remembering the stories I read to my kids and anticipating the joy with which these students will receive this gift of knowledge.