Librarians Without Borders Puts Books in the Hands of Guatemalan Children

After several days of travel, seventeen Librarians Without Borders volunteers have set up shop at the Miguel Angel Asturias Academy in Quetzeltanango, Guatemala. Thanks to a robust round of pre-trip planning sessions and a highly engaged group of travelers, LWB was able start work within just a few hours of arriving at the school.

Students in the Western Highlands of Guatemala will be able to borrow books from the library for the first time, thanks in large part to the work of Librarians Without Borders.

LWB has partnered with the Asturias Academy since 2009 to support the Academy’s vision to build a sustainable community library in the school.This year’s on-site work marks a major transition for their library: we are implementing cataloging, searching and borrowing technologies (and training the staff on these tools) to enable students to locate and check out books for the very first time.

Many Guatemalans are restricted from getting a quality education, in part due to a severe lack of access to books and literacy materials. In a country where books are taxed beyond the reach of the 75% of the population who live in poverty, it is almost impossible to get children excited about reading because many cannot get actual books in their hands.

This year, we plan to change that.

Dedicated LWB travelers will be blogging regularly for the duration of our service trip (April 13th-April 28th) so check in daily to see the latest news. We’re also posting micro-updates and photos regularly on our Facebook page.